Diving into Week Five and trying new things!

             Unsurprisingly time continues to fly by much more quickly than we would like. This week started similarly to the past four weeks with visiting classrooms and discussing health topics pertaining to physical, sexual and mental health. After our day of classes on Monday, we were able to go to the GRPA to participate in a mutual learning session regarding gender and sexuality in Guyana. Although some of the topics, such as the difference between gender and sex, were concepts that we had learned in classes at Queen’s University, we were able to learn about them more in the Guyanese context. Our discussion primarily focused on gender roles, specifically the effects of hyper-masculinity on both men and women in Guyana. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to have these as it provides us with the ability to ensure that our sessions in the classroom can be more culturally relevant.

            While preparing for the classroom sessions we also had the opportunity to be featured on Frederick’s Reality Check segment on NTN Radio for the second time. We discussed STIs and contraceptive options within Guyana. It was great having a positive forum where we could discuss both barrier and hormonal contraceptive methods and have the possibility of reaching a greater population. Although we do acknowledge and teach that abstinence is the only 100% way of preventing unwanted pregnancies and STIs, we also think that it is very important to provide alternative options. We also continued our weekly television appearance on NTN This Morning. For this week we focused our discussion on STIs and HIV/AIDS. We are so fortunate to be featured on Guyanese news outlets as it has allowed us to spread information on a wider platform.

            Our busy week continued on to the weekend as we had the chance to head to the region of Essequibo with the Guyana Foundation. The lovely Susan Isaacs picked us up at 6AM on Saturday morning and with the help of other members of the Guyana Foundation we made our way from Georgetown to the Sunrise Centre. We travelled across the water in a speedboat that is used as a form of public transportation to regions that can only be accessed by the river. We had the chance to run training sessions on sexual anatomy, STIs and HIV/AIDS, puberty, and substances/substance abuse. The participants were members of the Sunrise Centre’s professional training streams, in catering, computer repairs, plumbing and more. It was such an incredible day having the opportunity to do more community focused outreach sessions outside of Georgetown. We even had the chance to make more community connections within the Essequibo region.

            The incredible generosity and hospitality that we had on Saturday continued into Sunday when our friend Sunil welcomed us into his home. Him and his family provided us with an incredible home cooked meal. He also insisted on taking us to a local swimming creek where we were able to swim and make great memories. We have truly been astounded by the genuine kindness that we have been met with in Guyana. We have been so lucky to make such strong friendships.

            We are sad at the fact that we only have TWO weeks left here in beautiful Guyana, time really is flying too quickly.

Have a great week,

Shannon, Manny, Shannen, Haylee