HABITAT for Humanity Guyana Saturday officially launched its structured Volunteer Programme which targets youths aged from 14 to 30, and seeks to facilitate the engagement of youth in community development activities, with a particular focus on housing, disaster risk reduction, and advocacy.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle at the launch, which took place at the Theatre Guild playhouse in Kingston, Georgetown, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Guyana, Mr. Rawle Small, said that the entity has, so far, had approximately 200 volunteers signed on to the programme, which is being conducted under the slogan “What will the youth build?”
He said the entity believes that, throughout Guyana, especially among young people, there is great enthusiasm to give back to the community, and more widely to contribute to the development of the nation; and volunteerism is the way to do that.
Mr. Small noted that while youth have the energy and enthusiasm, what they sometimes lack is the guidance on how and where to start, and Habitat for Humanity Guyana can offer that guidance.
He explained that, leading up to the official launch of the programme, Habitat for Humanity Guyana did a series of soft launches, wherein they have been training a lot of their volunteers in leadership development and disaster risk reduction.
This volunteer programme is being conducted with youths in Regions 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), 4 (Demerara/Mahaica) and 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) and has been organised into different groups.
“Each group would have a leader and a deputy, and in addition to receiving training that is being facilitated by Habitat for Humanity Guyana, youth in the communities will also be called upon to support housing development interventions in the community,” Mr. Small explained.
He indicated that a lot of the youths whom they have engaged in the programme are also members of other volunteer groups, such as the President’s Youth Award Republic of Guyana (PYARG) and Youths for Guyana; and, so far, they have had a great experience with them.
“At the end of the day, we just see ourselves as playing a facilitating role, and the youth are expected to take a leading role in implementing the various activities we will be conducting in the various communities,” he asserted.
Mr. Small explained that, a few weeks ago, Habitat for Humanity Guyana launched a volunteer programme logo competition, and the entries reflected a lot of creativity and passion. He said the entity is very happy to know that youths are not only involved in the volunteer programme, but also in its branding.
The top three entries came respectively from Marlon Chesney, Andrew Gupta and Natasha, who gained third, second and first place respectively.
According to a Habitat for Humanity Guyana press release, the objectives of the programme are to support the development of communities across Guyana, to provide skills and knowledge to beneficiaries, and to increase the number of skilled community volunteers.
In order to become a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Guyana, persons can contact the national office at 45 Hadfield Street, Werk-en-Rust and fill out an application form, or call in and speak to anyone in the volunteer programme on telephone numbers 225-2676 or 223-6366.
The launch of the programme also included performances from the Diamond Drummers of the Deaf Association of Guyana and a dance from the Royston Gladston Ballet School.
Those present at the event included representatives from the National Commission on Disability, the Civil Defence Commission, the Deaf Association of Guyana, and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation in Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecky.