Learn more about volunteering abroad in Guyana!
Have you ever wanted to travel somewhere off the beaten path? Explore a country that many people have never heard of, and would never dream of venturing to? Picture yourself hiking through part of South America's stunning rainforests, or bathing in a black water creek! If you love adventure and can't wait to immerse yourself in relatively unchartered areas, then Guyana is the perfect place for you! Labelled a "hidden gem" by others who've explored and written about it, the country boasts limitless opportunities to leave a visitor breathless (quite literally!)
Whether you enjoy hiking through challenging, yet pristine landscape on a rainforest trek, or people-watching in one of Georgetown's bustling markets, Guyana offers more than enough options to keep you busy! Beyond its beauty, however, lies a host of challenges, and Guyana is still considered one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean Commonwealth (and in the Western Hemisphere as a whole). The country suffers from a lack of skilled human resources, and high emigration rates are only making matters worse. There are many important initiatives in Guyana that volunteers have the opportunity to get involved with!
Day in the Life of a Volunteer in Guyana
Angela Mak, Youth Challenge International alum
Angela Mak volunteered with Youth Challenge International in Guyana November 2011. Born in Ottawa, Canada, she attended the University of Toronto, Universtiet Mastricht, and Ryerson University. She currently works for Me to We, Free the Children’s best friend. She loves to travel to meet new people and gain new experiences, but mostly to try new foods!
Highlights: My volunteer efforts with outh Challenge International went beyond the classroom and into the village where I integrated with the community developing relationships. A particular relationship that blossomed was one with the Dundas family who took me in as one of their own. We often joked that I was Toby’s sister. Toby was a 3-year-old boy who looked a lot like my brother when he was young and he truly believed I was his sister! About a month after I left Guyana, Toby’s mom, gave birth to a little girl and named her Angela! I was overwhelmed with joy and it is without a doubt the highlight of my experience.
Morning: I wake up sweating. The temperature here is about 43°C, all year round. Due to the heat, most Guyanese people shower twice a day. I shower morning and night. I am lucky that St. Cuthbert’s has running water. Though some people have a shower, I do not and as such I have mastered the art of bucket showering! First, I wash my face, then I dip a small container into the water bucket and pour the water over my head. I do this twice. Then I lather up my hair and body, dip and pour, dip and pour, dip and pour. This was especially surprising to me! My expectations prior to my trip were not high in terms of development standards but I live in a concrete house and many of the villagers also live in small concrete houses or houses built out of wood on stilts to evade flooding. Floods happen from time to time during the rainy season and thunderstorms happen 2-3 times a day! Here, you can actually see and hear the rain coming. I’ve watched people literally run from the rain.
A happy Angela
Afternoon: The men in this village work in lumber or in mining while the women stay home and look after the children. Children go to school from nursery to Grade 11 and classes run from 8:30am-2:30pm. The two biggest challenges St. Cuthbert’s Mission faces are literacy and sanitation. As such, my volunteer partner and I teach literacy at the schools from Grades 1-11 and work with the locals developing sanitation workshops and drainage projects. After a lesson on university and job prospects, a twelve-year-old girl, Orliza approached me to ask if I would tutor her because she wanted to go to university. I was deeply touched and began to see her 3 times a week for an hour and half where we would cover all subjects! Her eagerness to learn inspired me and motivated me as I saw the impact of my volunteer efforts. I spent my afternoons happily teaching all subjects.
Evening: In addition we have some side projects which include entrepreneurship, computer education, and health and fitness workshops. My day usually starts ends at around 11pm and no matter what time of day, there are always kids around! Working with Youth Challenge International means that you are very busy. My volunteer party and I have a very busy social calendar! The people are very friendly and often we are invited for dinner. Weekends are filled with taking kids swimming, fishing, boat rides, farm visits. At night we would often go to the beach! There is never a dull moment!
Read more about the Youth Challenge International program in Guayana .
Kendra Seignoret, YCI alum
Kendra Seignoret (29) volunteered with Youth Challenge International in Guyana, January 9 to April 2, 2012. She is from Ottawa, Canada and is a graduate from the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs at Carleton University. She currently works as a government Policy Officer but also volunteers for English Language Teaching in the Ottawa Community (ELTOC). She loves hiking, travelling, and photography.
Highlights: There were many great things about volunteering in Guyana. I think the highlight for me was seeing improvements in my students. Especially in a short term stint (three months is still short!), it is hard to see what impact you may have had with all the effort you put into your volunteer job. However, even with the short time I had, I think my students made some strides. There is nothing quite like seeing the smile of accomplishment on a kid’s face over seemingly little things such as recognizing the letter ‘M’ or realizing that long division really isn’t that complicated. It was also great to see my high school students developing their writing skills, some even going beyond what I asked for in homework assignments.
When you’re volunteering in a foreign country for three months, it is hard to pick just one highlight. Beyond the actual volunteer work itself, highlights for me would be exploring the natural beauty and culture of the village. The village, though on a sandy savannah, is right by a river and rainforest. We were able to do many hikes, camp, fish, boat trips, swim, picnics, traipse through deep sucking mud, cross narrow bridges (read, log), pick food off trees, see wildlife... It is so cool to stand in a rainforest in the rain! And sleeping in a hammock under open-air shelter during a wind/rain storm is pretty awesome too. There were many cultural happenings the YCI team were able to be a part of as well – Phagwah (by the end of it, you look like a drowned rat from Avatar), Easter preparations (kite making and flying), and Mashramani (carnival).
Dental hygiene workshop
Morning: A typical morning really depended on what day of the week it was. My day usually started about 7am – the sun is long high in the sky and since our house was right by the primary school, we frequently had plenty of children coming by to say, “Good morning, Miss!” So sleeping in generally wasn’t possible! Some mornings I had a class to teach. My primary job with YCI, while in the village, was teaching grade 7 to 9 English B, which is Literature. The focus was on literary terms and recognizing their presence in various poems and stories. It was always a fun challenge to ensure that my lessons covered the necessary topics but in ways that were at least somewhat interesting. I also seized many a moment to teach things about Canadian culture and how it compares to Guyanese culture, to show some photographs of my travels, and even teach some French! On mornings that I didn’t have class, I took those times to stay on top of my laundry. Hand washing in a bucket takes a long time!
Afternoon: Afternoons also vary day by day. Sometimes I had a class to teach at the high school. Some afternoon classes, instead of a lesson, we developed workshops for the students. We did almost ten workshops on topics such as dental hygiene, nutrition, and study skills/test taking tips. Also, every Monday, I led an English remedial class for the grade 7 and 8s where we focused on grammar and punctuation. Tuesdays we had remedial grade 7 and 8 math class – the focus here was on multiplication, division, and fractions. Wednesday was literacy work for grade 3 students, those of whom were behind in their reading skills. On Thursdays, I helped at the little local library, sorting donated books and helping kids check books out. Saturday afternoons tended to be Bath Time. At the house, we had bucket showers but every Saturday, we’d trundle down to the river for a shampoo and bath. We usually had the area all to ourselves – it was glorious.
Bath spot in the rainforest
Evening: The village generator came on at 6pm every evening (usually) for four hours (Sunday to Thursday) or for 5 hours (Friday and Saturday). This was the only time when we had electricity. Once the generator was on, the local computer lab opened. Usually we were first in line as there were only five laptops for a village of over a thousand people! After I checked various emails or did necessary research for lesson planning, we would have dinner at home or at someone else’s home. Other times we would go to a movie night at one of the local shops or just lime and gaff with new friends (lime = hang out; gaff = chat). The village has a couple of bars with pool tables, and there is even a dance ‘club’! Of course, the fun times were for AFTER I prepped my lessons for the next day ☺
Read more about the YCI program in Guyana .
The Official Go Overseas Guide to Volunteering in Guyana
Fast Guyana Facts:
Popular Destinations: Georgetown, Kaieteur National Park and Kaieteur Falls, Essequibo River, Shell Beach, Rupununi Savannas, Iwokrama Rainforest.Poverty Level: 43% (The World Bank )Work/Tourist Visa: Difficult or Easy? Easy for nationals of certain countries including Canada and USA.Life expectancy: 67
Other Quick Facts:
Capital: GeorgetownPopulation: 769,141 (2010)Official Language: EnglishCurrency: Guyana dollar (G$)
A Day in the Life of a Volunteer in Guyana
"Miss! Miss!!!" I would hear the children shouting outside my window bright and early most mornings before school. I would roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, and sleepily make my way over to the door, while the calling continued outside. "Miss Allison! Miss?" It certainly wasn't uncommon for me to find at least five kids (often different ones each day) all dressed in their school uniforms standing on my doorstep when I swung the door open. "Good morning, Miss Allison!" they'd say excitedly, and then ask if I'd be teaching them today. Most of them would slowly try to inch their way inside the house while they waited for me to get ready, and when the school bell rang, we'd all walk across the white sandy yard to the primary school. Correction. I would attempt to walk, while three kids dangled off each arm and fought for the best spot - the one closest to me where they could actually hold my hand!
I spent most of my days teaching the Grade 3 class at the primary school with another volunteer from my group. Why did you need two teachers to teach one class, you ask? The short answer is that this class was a handful to say the least! Every day was unique in some way, and every day brought new challenges. Whether the students were drawing pictures for us, writing us funny letters, or arguing about who took whose pencil, there was never a dull moment!
After school, I would head over to one of the locals' houses to hang out before dinner. As soon as her kids saw me coming, they'd run towards me screaming, "Swing me, Miss! Swing me!" I'd take turns swinging each kid around in circles in the air while they squealed with laughter until my back shouted "no more!" at me! We'd often spend our evenings visiting with locals and playing with the children before sitting down for a delicious Guyanese meal. Fried chicken and fried rice was my favourite! Yum!
Types of Volunteering Opportunities in Guyana
Volunteers could find themselves working in a variety of sectors. Some of the most common are:
Health and Safety of Volunteers in Guyana
Recommended vaccinations before departing for Guyana include: Hepatitis A & B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Rabies, Tetanus, and MMR. Entry into Guyana may be refused to travellers who cannot provide proof of vaccination against Yellow Fever. Volunteers may also want to consider taking some form of Malaria pills throughout their stay in Guyana. If traveling with an established organization, this may even be a requirement. Volunteers should be equipped with an antidiarrheal drug such as Cipro, as traveller's diarrhea can often accompany exposure to an unfamiliar diet. Insect repellent, sunblock, and a personal medical kit stocked with all the essentials are necessary items for a visit to Guyana as well. Check out MD Travel Health for further guidelines.
In terms of safety, petty crimes such as theft are probably the most common risks travellers may experience in Guyana, apart from reckless driving. Though crime rates in Guyana are high, most crime occurs along the coast and in Georgetown, and visitors are rarely the target of serious violence. That said, travellers should always remain alert and keep a close watch on their belongings. Remember that using common sense can go a long way in minimizing threat. For more information on travel warnings and recommendations, visit your government's Foreign Affairs website.
Background of Guyana
Guyana has a long history of colonization dating back to the early 16th century. British, French, and Dutch forces battled for control of the area along Guyana's coast for centuries, where Dutch settlers had first established sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations. These battles ceased in 1803, when the British regained control of the colonies for the last time. The colonies remained under British control until 1966, when Britain granted independence. In 1970, the country became known as the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, as it is known today.
Guyana's rather unfortunate "claim to fame," the Jonestown Massacre , occurred in 1978, and remains one of Guyana's most memorable historic events.
Explore the beauty of Guyana while volunteering
Visas in Guyana
Visas are not required for visitors who are nationals of countries including (but not limited to): Canada, USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The complete list can be found through the Guyanese government and Visa HQ . Upon entry, visitors of these countries will receive a stamped visa that is valid for up to three months.
Life, Culture and Customs in Guyana
Coming from a fast-paced lifestyle and culture, the change of pace may be difficult to adapt to, at least at first. Everything in Guyana takes time, and no one seems to be in a big rush to do anything. That is certainly not to say that Guyanese aren't hard-working and driven. They just value time differently than Western cultures do. If you expect to feel productive all the time and to immediately see results, you may very well be disappointed. However, if you can learn to relax and to enjoy a simpler lifestyle, you will likely feel right at home among the locals.
Today, Guyana is a culturally diverse nation, in large part due to its earlier centuries of European colonization and the slave labour that accompanied it. Once slavery was abolished, indentured labourers from East India, Portugal, and China were brought to Guyana in large numbers to replace African slaves. Guyana has been declared the "Land of Six Peoples," reflecting the six populations that account for the majority of its people: Africans, East Indians, Chinese, Europeans (mainly Portugese), Amerindians, and Brazilians.
This variety of culture and heritage make Guyana a unique country to say the least! The influence of other South American cultures to the south combine with the influence of the English-speaking Caribbean nations to the north, resulting in a complex and fascinating culture all its own. As the only English-speaking country in the continent, Guyana is viewed as the bridge between South America and the Caribbean. Regarded as a Caribbean nation itself, the lifestyle and traditions of its people are decidedly more Caribbean, at least to the eye of a foreigner.
This official guide is brought to you by Allison Burney
Allison studied journalism and human rights at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON. Her recent experience in Guyana sparked a desire to keep traveling, learning about different cultures and seeing what the world has to offer. She plans to create a travel blog and continue writing about her adventures. Connect with Allison on TakingITGlobal or Facebook .
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