Name: Christopher Dunn

Location: Guyana

Report Title: Festivals-a-Plenty

Report Date: 18/04/2009

Again I find I must apologise for this report being a little late. The reports seem to clash with our end of term exams and a flood of work.

This term has been fantastic! After our blissful Christmas in Tobago we were thrown back into school and soon fell back into the routine of classes. This term I have begun extra lessons after school in an aim to help the kid’s basic maths and get them doing a little problem solving. Parents gave this idea full approval and deemed it worth while, unfortunately their enthusiasm was not shared with the pupils and after a few weeks of one or no students my enthusiasm failed too. However with time came numbers and gradually the numbers have been getting higher and progress is finally being made.

We have had the pleasure of seeing some of Guyana’s Caribbean spirit this term in the form of festivals and holidays. One is Mashumany (mash) meaning celebration after hard work. When exactly the locals put in this hard work, I find it hard to say! We must have missed that day! They partied all day with colourful floats, parades, street parties and dancing - an excellent day.

Another festival was Pagwa, a Hindu festival but for the day everyone is Hindu. This involved paint, water, talcum powder, and bright paint powders being thrown all day.

The official rules are if you’re wearing a white T-shirt you’re playing and are a target for people in the street and in pick-ups driving around full of people and buckets of water. The unofficial rules are if you’re on the street your playing and therefore a target.

Aside from the fun, this year has seen discipline problems in the school resulting in teachers being criticized by parents and many pupils resulting in suspension. However the school is clamping down and we have seen some improvements as a small amount of control has been restored.

Over Easter we are taking a bus through the rainforest (which I’m very excited about) to Lethem in the south of the country for a rodeo put on every year over Easter. We hope to be able to jump the border (not literally) into Brazil for a visit before we head back to Dora for our final term in school.

Having a fantastic year will talk to you soon
Chris Dunn
Project trust volunteer Guyana

Additional Reports:

Report:  Settling down in Guyana

Report:  Initial Report.

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