| Persons from all walks of life turned out in their numbers yesterday on Main Street,Wellness Warrior, Kerianne Ramalho addressing a group of studentsGeorgetown, to participate in a grand ‘Volunteer Fair,’ hosted by the Volunteerism Support Platform (VSP) of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.The activity which attracted scores of citizens,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, including high school students, marked the observance of International Volunteer Day 2014, which was commemorated under the theme,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, “People’s participation. Make change happen, volunteer!”The observance which is commemorated annually on December 5, provides an opportunity for youths to find volunteer opportunities to help and also make a positive impact in their communities.International Volunteer Day was established by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on December 17 in 1985, and is observed to celebrate and recognise the contributions and achievements of volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations across the world, for their contributions to peace and development in their communities and at any other level.Since the establishment of IVD, Governments, the UN system and civil society organisations have successfully joined volunteers around the world to celebrate this day.This year, the VSP collaborated with a number of Governmental and Non-Governmental Agencies to promote the event. As such, several tents were erected on Main Street to educate volunteer fair visitors‘Sisters’ from Stella’s Sisterhood of Support and Service Foundationabout various aspects of volunteerism and the positive ways volunteers have impacted lives.Participating agencies included United States Peace Corps, Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), Habitat for Humanity, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Warriors for Health, Guyana National Youth Council, the Interact Club of School of the Nations, Youth Corps Volunteer, Stella’s Sisterhood of Support and Service Foundation and Caribbean Environment Network, among others.It is through the efforts of these organisations, which work in the field of human rights and community development that participants were being told that they too can come forth and help their communities grow.The volunteers were not only working to sensitize the public about the works of their groups but also used the opportunity as a recruitment strategy.Minister of Culture Youth and Sports, Dr. Frank Anthony, Guyana Country Representative,Cheap NFL Jerseys, Melanie McTurk and several senior volunteers were among those present at the event.In an invited comment, Dr. Anthony said that the VSP was created as a means through which volunteerism can be promoted in Guyana.He said that the Culture Ministry has been working with a number of organisations interested in volunteering, and has also been recruiting people who want to volunteer. Dr. Anthony stated the recruits are usually “matched” to organisations.This, he said, has been happening over the last three years.The Minister said that efforts are being directed at encouraging more Guyanese to be involved in volunteering “because we (the Ministry) feel that through volunteer efforts we can do more in different areas for our country.”He told this publication that focus has been particularly given to young people and that the Ministry has a pilot programme in schools which include Diamond,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Friendship,Cheap Jerseys China, Coven Garden, Buxton, Lusignan,Wholesale Jerseys China, Kingston, Plaisance and St. George’s Secondary schools as well as the secondary division of the Josel Educational Institute.“We have encouraged those schools to form volunteer clubs and we have recruited teachers,” he said as he added that the teachers have been trained and are taking on different projects within their schools.“We are hoping that, that can be expanded and over time we should have more schools participating in this programme. We have a number of NGOs that are part of this network that we have created,” the Minister noted.Dr. Anthony added that his Ministry works with all kinds of different people, inclusive of those with disabilities, and people who are involved in the health and education sectors.He added that “From time to time we do capacity building for these organisations and train volunteers for specific purposes.” |
