Thirty-three US Peace Corps volunteers, who formed the 22nd batch to come to Guyana have ended their formal training and will shortly take up positions in the health and education sectors for the next two years.
At a ceremony held at the Queenstown Community Centre on the Essequibo Coast on Thursday evening, to honour the families who hosted volunteers during their training programme, Region Two Chairman Ali Baksh extended appreciation to the 33 volunteers “who left their homes to give their service in Guyana”. He mentioned that there are hundreds of Guyanese who were leaving this country and migrating to other regions in large numbers. He stressed that there are areas in Guyana which need to be developed and strengthened.
“A nation without good health is one that is poor,” Baksh told the volunteers. “We trust our future in your hands and hope you advance peace and development in our world. It’s a challenging job for all of you, but we want to assure you that we will be there for you.”
Peace Corps Country Director James Greene said that one of their main goals was exchanging culture and ideas. Greene classed the training as community -based rather than centre- based.
“This ceremony is about recognising the families who hosted Peace Corps volunteers,” he said. They were very patient, generous and benevolent to all of us. It’s a real commitment being a host family. You made us feel like we never left home.”
The volunteers shared their experiences since they arrived here in February for training, emphasising how “foreign” they were to the way of life of Guyana.
Meanwhile, they did a relay race to show the things they learnt in Guyana, such as how to hang clothes and make roti. They also did a skit about “Life in the Pink Church”, the centre where they were trained, which showed the adversities they faced in their training. Nevertheless they were tenacious to advance health and education and strengthen the bond between Guyana and the US.
Host families also shared their experiences. Entertainment was provided by the New Opportunity Corps steel band.
Today, the volunteers will be sworn in at the Theatre Guild in Georgetown and will be sent off to different areas in Guyana tomorrow.
