HEALTH Minister, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran has charged the GUY 26 batch of Peace Corps Volunteers to remain resolute in the discharge of their duties of resolving the many challenges associated with developing nations. 

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the 26th batch of Peace Corps Volunteers to Guyana since 1995, Dr Ramsarran said the history and many contributions of the volunteer body to Guyana goes back to 1966, when it

all started, up until 1971, when there was a hiatus which lasted all of 24 years.
He called on the new batch of volunteers to reaffirm their commitment to the progress of developing nations through community development in health and education as their predecessors would have done during the hostility of the Caribbean region in the 1960s.
As a gesture of good faith, Dr Ramsarran presented the US Ambassador with the Guyana Health Strategy 2020, in recognition that it is only through a comprehensive understanding of the details of the sectors in Guyana that health and education initiatives could be conducted successfully.
Health Strategy 2020 targets the vision that the people of Guyana are among the healthiest in the Caribbean and the Americas. It is underpinned by the values of human rights, equity and solidarity in health, as well as principles and approaches that emphasise individual empowerment, social participation, evidence-based planning, primary health care, and sustainable development.
The strategy embraces the World Health Organisation’s definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Commenting on the long and steadfast relations between Guyana and the United States, Minister Ramsarran observed that such relations are reflective of “how we can overcome differences, and how we can strengthen likenesses, [and] commonalities” in order to move forward. Similarly, he said, fostering good relations will promote the coming into being of “sustainable post-2015 Health Agenda.”
Also addressing the Volunteers was outgoing US Ambassador to Guyana, Mr Brent Hardt, who gave a summation of the history of the Peace Corps in Guyana; a history which he noted was aimed at providing attention to communities with the greatest development challenges while using the fewest resources.
“This group of volunteers will find its work to be challenging as well as rewarding,” the Ambassador said, adding that Guyana is a developing country that has faced many developmentl challenges of its own.
This being the case, he said, “the US has a strong interest in working in partnership with Guyana to support national efforts to meet these diverse challenges.”
To date, some 664 volunteers have been trained in Guyana since the establishment of Peace Corps Guyana, according to Ambassador Hardt, with the current graduating batch of 34 adding to the many that have helped in reducing illiteracy, promoting better health practices, and engaging in cross-culture exchange.
Deputy Chief Education Officer of the Ministry of Education, Ms. Donna Chapman, in her address to the graduates, lauded the exceptional contributions of volunteers to the educational thrust of Guyana over the years.
“The Ministry of Education applauds the members of the Peace Corps for their sterling and sustained contributions towards the development of health and education in Guyana,” she said, adding that the Ministry of Education welcomes the collaborative efforts between the Government of Guyana and the US Embassy in the thrust for a better quality of education in Guyana.
She too called called on the volunteers to recognise their role in the eradication of illiteracy, and urged that they commit themselves to the literacy drive in Guyana, while functioning as role models in the teaching fraternity.
The Peace Corps was established by U.S President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Since it’s commissioning, the organisation has been invited to over 100 countries around the world. Peace Corps volunteers reside with local families as part of their cross-culture training.
Country Director of the Peace Corps, Ms. Linda D. Arbogast outlined that the work of the volunteers has now begun. After eight weeks of training in community health or education, the graduates will spend two years living in communities in Region 1 (Barima-Waini), Region 2 (Pomeroon Supenaam), Region 3 (Essequibo Islands West Demerara), Region 4 (Demerara- Mahaica), Region 5 (Mahaica-Berbice), Region 6 (East Berbice- Corentyne) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).