Youth Challenge Guyana -Looking ahead to 2013

By Venessa Deosaran

2012 for Youth Challenge Guyana was challenging yet productive; the organisation was able to serve the interests of youth more as it started new projects (including the USAID/SKYE project) and strengthen existing ones. YCG is responsible for reaching more than 400 youth with training for the workplace, out of which a quarter have already been taught a set of basic employment skills, knowledge, and behaviours used by youth to be successful as entry-level workers with specific skill sets identified as priorities by Guyana’s employment sector.
YCG is pleased that the women’s entrepreneurship and networking started by the organisation in 2011 has now taken on a life of its own with the beneficiaries choosing to take on their own goals and move forward to start their own organisation to reach out and support women entrepreneurs to develop and maintain sustainable businesses.
More opportunities are being created to support youth with greater skills and job opportunities. YCG will be launching a new initiative that’s funded by the British high commission to support and enhance the skills of youth who may not be reached through existing national initiatives.
Education
Youth Challenge Guyana has used volunteer teachers to support the Ministry of Education (MoE) in places where schools need support because of teacher shortage; at present YCG has 40 volunteer teachers spread across the country reaching approximately 800 pupils at the primary level. The volunteers are recruited and prepared by YCG, Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO) and the MoE for one year assignments, during which they are supported by YCG to ensure that their experience be enriching and they perform effectively while placed with the schools.
In Sept. 2012, YCG launched an inquiry-based science education programme in four primary schools, two in Region 4 and two in Region 6. The support provided through this initiative would equip the schools with science kits, to aid science teachers so that science scores in schools will improve. Additionally, the teachers would have interactive sessions where they could share their strategies and other creative techniques with their peers, towards achieving better science results in schools.  This initiative is an extension of a pilot project started by the MoE, and is supported by Exxon Mobil.
With funding from the European Union, YCG continues its support to Amerindian communities through a project designed to enhance the skills of community leaders and youth in the community through distance education in Regions 8 and 9. The project focuses on areas such as effective planning, finance management skills, community mobilisation and project management skills. One group of 30 persons have started this training, another in Region 9, and another 30 would start in Region 8 in 2013.
Health
During 2012, YCG’s health programme has maintained interventions aimed at preventing HIV in some hard-to-reach parts of Guyana, particularly in Region 8. YCG has maintained a mobile HIV testing and prevention unit, funded through the USAID/GHARP II project. This intervention reaches primarily sex workers, miners and other key populations in Region 8. YCG has reached more than 300 persons from these key populations over the course of the year with services that improve their health and develop self-esteem toward safer behaviours YCG has also increased the delivery of condoms and other safe-sex materials to the region, to ensure that the population have unlimited access to prevention supplies so that their risk be significantly reduced. Faithfulness is also strongly advocated. YCG is working diligently to source financing to support other youth health needs that have been identified by the communities it serves.
International Volunteering
Although there has been a decline in the number of short-term international volunteers managed by the organisation, 2012 has seen two groups implementing work in Guyana, supporting the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project to provide community awareness and mobilisation around mangrove protection. International volunteers were recruited and sent by YCG’s Canadian partner Youth Challenge International, as part of a more than fifteen year relationship.
2013 partnerships
Youth Challenge Guyana remains committed to the development of youth and Guyanese communities, and would be looking more closely in 2013 towards developing longer term partnerships with the private sector to support the work of the organisation to benefit a greater number of youth and communities with services that would improve Guyana. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)