So I have told you already a little about the what’s and where’s of my working and ‘lack of sleeping in the morning’ life in Guyana so now I thought it time to share a little bit about what I am getting up to when I am not sticking in the earplugs (which don’t work by the way!) or crying over the lack of laminators and functioning photocopiers!

Some more weeks in and I am very pleased to be getting stuck into the social side of things in Guyana. Luckily for me we (the “we” here is mainly myself and Camilla, another volunteer from Scotland/Brighton; who is lovely, apart from being a Chelsea supporter (!), plus other volunteers who we bump into every now and then) have already met some really friendly local people who are happy to show us around and keep us in the loop when it comes to having fun outside of work.

We have met a couple of good friends who work for Youth Challenge, Guyana which amongst other things work through peer educators to support the national AIDS and HIV education programmes; a week or so ago we went to one of their fundraisers which was a Dutch Style Bachelor and Bachelor-lette Auction, one of the volunteers, Mira (who lets just say is one of our older friends) ended up “winning” one of the men; a 23 year old comedian/actor (/ part time stripper, judging by his stage performance!). To say that this caused some hilarity amongst the audience is an understatement….Mira, bless her, just wanted to be supportive of the cause but when she bid they immediately “sold to the lady in the front” as the entire audience agreed she was the most worthy winner….there was no getting away from the fact of what she had achieved either since this picture ended up in the local paper (I managed to get in there too you will notice)! Being a small country most things get into the newspapers or on the TV – apparently it is highly unlikely that as a VSO you will not be on the local TV at some point during your stay… in a professional capacity you understand… in most cases! So watch this space!

Other fun has included a lot of pool playing, which has taken some getting used to since I am convinced, judging by some of the embarrassing performances being witnessed, that the tables are a little crooked and the cues slightly wonky! Also for some bizarre reason the concept of “two shots” is completely unheard of here, apparently the fact that you didn’t get a ball in on your turn is punishment enough…stupid if you ask me, I rely heavily on the fact that every now and then I get an extra shot!

I have also visited, what I would imagine is, Guyana’s only tenpin bowling alley…and “hung out” on the sea wall! I haven’t quite got the hang of what you are meant to do during the regular Sunday evening “let’s go to the sea wall” events, except sit/stand/lounge along the wall and ‘people watch’….yep pretty much my idea of a great night, great to know that people are into the same things around the world! Oh and of course most of these activities are supported nicely by a small drop of rum and ginger and lots of ice….I should apologies now to those friends who I have suggested try this new tipple of mine…. it is ginger beer and not ginger ale you should be using as a mixer, ginger ale is apparently, according to a good source “completely rank!”.

Another little regular thing we have got going is a “games night!”, this may to some sound a little tame but believe me it has to date been extremely entertaining. I am very proud to say that I have (thanks to one of the nice little parcels tucked away in my suitcase) introduced “pass the pig” to some of our Guyanese neighbours. Ok Ok so it took a little time to convince people of the point of ‘PTP’ but again with a little help from Mr. rum and Mr. ginger the point seemed to sink in! I am pleased to say that the firm favourite of “bullshite” had already made its way over here!…..those of you that don’t know the game, ask someone you know that has been to university or travelling in the last 10 or so years I am sure they will be able to fill you in….it beats everything else hands down. I have also learnt another great game called “spoons”, which before you ask is also a card game!


Last Saturday, we headed to “Guyana Music festival”, which was great (at a cost of 3000G$ or £7.50), we were a little late getting there (playing pool and waiting on lifts!) so we missed some of the acts but we heard some good “stop and start(!) style DJ-ing” and a couple of acts, one of which was Buja Banton, an artist who some of you might know is banned from the UK for good reason. When he is not being completely politically incorrect, however, he is able to play some good reggae.

Mmm what else have I been up to… well work wise things are continuing to go well, there is lots to do but I am more than happy about that. All the people I have met to date have been great, the rehabilitation assistants in particular have been really friendly and open to new ideas and “hannahisms” ….I am particularly looking forward to receiving my boardmaker symbols making CD from home in the post to start the Hannah visual resources production line! Not sure how I am going to get over the fact that I have left my trusty laminator at home but I am working on that! Card and thick sticky tape may be the answer!

I have today (Wednesday 31st Nov) been back to one of the schools to start a screening programme with one of the assistants; Simone. Speech Therapy has not happened there for a little while so we figured it would be good to have a look at as many of the children as we can and start prioritising who we need to see whilst thinking about the most effective way to support the children and the school….. one of the children I met, who was probably around 6 or 7, has given me one of my favourite anecdotes to date... his speech was not so clear and because I am still adjusting to the Creolese, which is spoken by most people here, I was finding it difficult to get what he was trying to say. I eventually worked out that he was talking about “my arm”…”no, my skin”….and “his arm” and “his skin” and asking something repeatedly…I then realised he was asking “who painted you!” I guess the tan is not coming along then yet!

Another nice little moment happened yesterday when I met a little boy who has this year sadly lost all of his speech/language due to a complication following brain surgery, he is relatively bright and is able to engage in interactions socially….anyway he does not use any sounds even when happy and smiling….anyway the assistant and I introduced a game of blowing small pieces of paper off my hand, which although only small steps produced a half hearted “per!” stroke (/) audible spit! and lots of audible giggles, which made us smile a lot……I hope we can do some more with him soon so I will keep you posted… for those of you still wondering why I am doing this, this is why :-) ..till next time.