THIRTY-TWO children, who surpassed the attendance target, received certificates and prizes at the conclusion of a week-long heritage programme hosted by the National Trust of Guyana (NTG) and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. The ceremony took place, last Friday, at the Lot 94 Carmichael Street, Cummingsburg, Georgetown premises of the NTG.
The Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Nirvana Persaud said the NTG was looking for 30 participants but, after the first 34 registered, 32 remained.
She said that the course, which started last year, will be an annual one conducted during the vacation periods. It targeted between eight and 11-year-olds but some seven and eight years old also took part.
The training included learning about monuments, generally, which is the mandate of the NTG but those who participated also learnt model making, art and taxidermy. They were also taken on tours, including to the Mangrove Centre to learn about the trees, as well around the city to heritage sites and the National Museum.
The process was taught by Persaud, other NTG staff and more from the National Archives and Museum of Guyana.
Life skills
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Mr. Alfred King praised the venture, stressing that the children had benefitted from being taught life skills.
“We have provided rich experiences while, in the same venture time providing them with organised recreational and fun activities that would contribute to their own development,” he remarked.
The NTG was established following the passage of the National Trust Act, Number 7 of 1972, making provision for the preservation of monuments, sites, places and objects of historic interest or national importance.
Its main responsibility is the preservation of all monuments in Guyana. Under the National Trust Act, the term ‘monuments’ includes any building, structure, object or other work of man or of nature whether above or below the surface of the land or the floor of the sea within territorial waters of Guyana and any site, cave or excavation.
National Monuments, of which nine presently exist, are the vested responsibility of the Trust and gazetted as such after approval by Parliament.
The mission of the Trust is to conserve, preserve and promote the nation’s patrimony, so that the present and future generations will access and enjoy the richness of Guyana’s heritage.