SIX secondary school students and one adult mentor benefitted from a three-week cultural and developmental programme in the United States of America (USA) from August 7 to 27.
The six Guyanese youth ambassadors selected this year to participate in the Caribbean youth ambassador programme were: Sarah Dos Ramos, Claudia Garraway, Omar Hoppie, Shafeena Milton, Vishani Ragobeer and Ayodele Roach, along with their adult mentor, Jacquelyn Johnson. They were joined by youths from 11 other Caribbean countries also.
Throughout the programme, these youths were afforded the opportunity to engage in capacity-building exercises and leadership training; project planning and implementing workshops; and cross-cultural exchange and communication with their American home stay families and with youths from around the world.

All of the participants met in Brattleboro, Vermont, for the first segment of the programme before splitting into groups that travelled to three host cities: Seattle, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Kansas, Missouri.

The programme then culminated in Washington D.C., where the youths visited the State Department and prepared for their follow-on project in their home countries. This ‘follow-on’ project entails the implementation of a community-service project by the ambassadors, based on all the skills they acquired from the exchange.
Team Guyana structured their follow-on project on ‘Health’. While attending the project presentations in Washington D.C., representatives from Guyana’s Embassy in the U.S. commended the Guyanese cohort for conceptualising a “timely” project, given the emphasis being placed locally on promoting good health.
After returning to Guyana, the young ambassadors met with the U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, along with other staff from the embassy on September 6. The group recounted their experiences during the programme and explained their revitalised passion to contribute to the development of Guyana and how they intend to make a positive impact on society.

The U.S. envoy congratulated the team on successfully representing Guyana and affirmed that the experience will be instrumental as they seek to contribute to their country.
The Caribbean Youth Ambassadors programme is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is supported through the local embassy. The implementing partner since 2015 for this programme has been ‘World Learning’, a global not-for-profit organisation.
Since the project’s initiation in Guyana in 2012, 37 youths and seven mentors have benefited throughout the years from this project. With the return of the 2017 cohort recently, that number has grown to 43 young ambassadors and eight adult mentors.