GUYANA - The Land of Many Waters

Friends and family, it is official. We received our nomination and invitation to serve as education and health community volunteers in the country of Guyana. Not to be mistaken with the African nations of Ghana or Guinea, Guyana is located on the north eastern coast of South America, bordered by Venezuela (Northwest), Suriname (Southeast) and Brazil (South). SEE MAP.

While not a Spanish speaking country, Guyana is one of the most diverse countries in the world and certainly the most in South America. It has a history of European imperialism, multiple indigenous tribes still in existence, and a history of slavery. For more info check this out. We have spent the last two days researching the country and still do not feel like we know even a fraction of what there is to know.

While there is way too much about Guyana to share with all of you, we can share the logistics of Peace Corps Adventure. We will be going to Miami February 7, 2010 for what is called staging. There we will meet the 22nd group of Peace Corps volunteers to go to Guyana since 1995. In Miami we will also take care of any last minute paper work, medical requirements, and get any needed vaccinations for our adventure. Two days later, as a group we will board a plane to Guyana. We will spend the first eight weeks in training as a group while living with a host family. We will learn the language (Creolese) and culture, as well as different health and safety measures that will need to be followed. During our training we will be observed and evaluated by Peace Corps Guyana and will then graduate onto our official volunteer time.

Our volunteer time will consist of 24 months of service in a extremely rural setting, with no running water or electricity. This will most likely be in the interior savanna or northern rain forest regions where there are many small indigenous villages of 200-300 people. Alyssa's project will consist of basic classroom education (math, science, reading, etc.), community development and health education. Paul's projects will include health education and outreach in schools, clinics and with NGOs. These projects set up the perfect opportunity for us to work on separate things but also at times partner together to attempt to enrich a community.

There will be many more posts to come.

Please continue to pray for our process of getting ready to leave as well as the actual journey.

If we haven't seen you in awhile please, please, please contact us because things will get crazy soon and we want to make sure we hang out with all of you.