Dear Editor,
This year’s costume and float parade for Mashramani, a celebration of Guyana’s 41st Republic Day welcomed a new contingent: Volunteers. On the morning of February 23, 2011, hundreds of volunteers and supporters of volunteerism gathered together at the corner of Church and Camp streets to begin our Mashramani Parade under the theme ‘Celebrating Volunteerism, Recognizing Volunteers.’ A total of 27 volunteer groups/organizations were represented; this marked the first time that such a large number of volunteers and voluntary organizations assembled to celebrate and promote the work of the voluntary sector in Guyana.
Volunteerism is the root of community work and development in Guyana. It is an institution of Guyanese culture that is often under celebrated, valued and recognised. Volunteerism was instrumental before and during the struggle for Independence; it served as the engine of mobilisation and support during the village movement; and has been a vital force in aiding national events such as the first and most recent Carifesta and ICC 20/20 and Cricket World Cup. Celebrating volunteerism and recognizing volunteers on Guyana’s 41st Republic Day was about nationally appreciating the work of volunteers and the fundamental impact volunteerism continues to make in the lives of each and every Guyanese.
Float construction and the making of costumes for the IYV +10 group were mostly done by local and international volunteers under the guidance of the designer. The skills, knowledge and commitment provided by volunteers through volunteer networks, groups and organizations are invaluable to Guyana’s development. Volunteers participating in the parade volunteer in the areas of youth empowerment, HIV/AIDS sensitization, disability support, environmental protection and sustainability, gender equality and women’s rights, child protection and development, community cohesion and humanitarian action, to name a few. By supporting the empowerment of many vulnerable groups in the society, volunteerism is a major part of our national pride and certainly a cultural showcase of Guyana.
Permanent Secretary King outlined why the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports committed funding to enable volunteers to participate in Mashramani this year:
“The unsung heroes in national development often go un-noticed and unrecognized, even when we take time to reflect on our collective development. Volunteers from all walks of life, especially those working at community and grassroots levels, have been involved in sports, culture and youth development for decades. If we were to attempt to quantify the number of volunteer hours, resources and overall volunteer contributions to, let’s say for example, cultural preservation and arts in Guyana or community, regional and national sports programmes, the relationship between volunteerism and development in these areas would be very significant. It is important that we use this Volunteerism Mash Float Parade to not only celebrate and recognise volunteers, but to also reflect on and spread the spirit of volunteerism throughout Guyana.”
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation also played a vital role during the preparation of the volunteerism parade by facilitating the logistical arrangements, hosting the IYV +10 NCC and appointing staff to facilitate the work of the committee. The positive engagement of these ministries in the IYV+10 Mash celebrations is really important to the longer term dialogue on volunteerism for development in Guyana. Donors supporting the float from the international community were: Volunteering Services Overseas, through the Canadian International Development Agency and the European Union; and UNVolunteers.
IYV+10 provides a unique opportunity to showcase the value of volunteering and to highlight the important opportunities that volunteering affords communities in taking action to improve their lives. Mashramani is the first of many activities taking place throughout IYV+10 with the aim of promoting volunteerism for Guyana’s development and the strength and partnership of the organisations that are involved. The National Coordinating Committee for the Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers + 10 (NCC for IYV +10) represents a partnership of public, private and civil society organisations and groups. The committee will continue to engage volunteers and voluntary organizations as we continue with local efforts to commemorate International Year of the Volunteer +10 in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Rawle Small
