September to November News 2008

It's 30th November 2008 and we hold our first coffee morning for many months

It's 25th November 2008 and we return to Guyana from England

It's 20th Novemeber 2008 and we miss the VSO Forum in Lake Mainstay

It's 19th Novemebre 2008 and we miss our own Leavers' Forum because we are in England.

It's 15th November 2008 and we return to England for 9 days on the spur of the moment. A great trip.

It's 13th November 2008 and we go to the Windjammer Restaurant to celebrate 21 months in Guyana

It's 8th Novemeber 2008 and we go to the Theatre Gulid for a second week to see a performance of Moon on a Rainbow Shawl

It's 2nd Novemeber 2008 and we go to see a superb production of Joseph (same cast as last time) at the newly renovated theatre Guild.

It's 28th October 2008 and went to a Master Trainer friend for a superb celebration lunch.

It's 27th October 2008 and went to the Sea Wall to see the Diwali Motorcade for the Festival of Light

It's 26th October and went to National Cultural Centre to see the Guyana Police Force perform their cultural extrvaganza to celebrate 169 years of existence (as a police band)

It's 25th October 2008 and it's 110 days to go. Yes, we are now counting down. Mary seems to have fully recovered so all is well. Went to JR Burgers with Mira last night to celebrate Mary's return to health. She's been fancying a burger for a while but couldn't eat one.

It's 23rd October 2008 and great news - Director informs me that our Canadian backers GBET have agreed to supply materials so that my 11 modules of the Education Management Programme can be put into every school in the country as resource and training materials. Result!!!!! I just have to finish them now. Done 5 plus Handbook and Assessment guide and half way through 6 - 7, 8 and 9 to be done in three months. Very possible!

It's 22nd October 2008 and Mary returns to work after a week of unpleasant sickness. She is very tired and returns home after half a day and takes the rest of the week off.

It's 16th October 2008 and agreed with my Director that I will do no more training in Guyana but concentrate on writing the Management Modules. The Minister's decision was a blow but better to clear the decks and complete the work.

It's 15th October 2008 and Mira returns to Guyana after 3 months at home and some medical treatment. She is in great form and looking good. She spends the evening with us. Mira is proud to be our oldest volunteer and has been volunteering in different countries for 12 years. She has more energy than the rest of us put together.

Mary returned from Mahdia today another 8 hours of bumpy unmade road. Unfortunately, she has come down with something nasty! But her workshops were successful and worthwhile.

The first of my series of workshops "Leading from the Front" for Georgetown Senior Teams was due to start today but the Minister, in his wisdom. decided to use it for a press conference on the Strategic Plan just agreed by cabinet. So the workshops are cancelled! My biggest disappointment in Guyana so far but will recover.

It's 12th October 2008 and Mary and Meg travel again to Mahdia in Region 8 - the remotest region in the mountains. They go by minibus - 8 hours.

That same evening we are invited to our first Thanksgiving (Canadian) but, of course, Mary can't go. Imagine, turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings as well as an excellent Pumpkin Pie created by Nicolette and Martin. A great evening. Miriam was the host. Not a VSO but a volunteer with the RC Church who we met in St Lucia last Christmas.

It's 11th October 2008 and Mary and I go to Windjammer Restaurant to celebrate our 20 months in Guyana. Ist time we have done it alone. Lovely meal.

It's 9th October 2008 and we attend the graduation of Region Five on the West Bank Berbice. Another great occasion and the guest speaker again. They say such lovely things about me that it is embarrassing. I was introduced as "our beloved Stephen" so I must be doing something good. See www.ncerdleaders.com for reports and pictures on both.

It's 6th October 2008 and Mary and I attend the Graduation for Region 4 with some graduates from Region 8. I was the guest speaker. A lovely occasion.

It's 4th October 2008 and Elizabeth (our Canadian intern neighbour living in our yard) has her leaving party. She will be leaving on Wednesday.

It's 3rd October 2008 and our good friend Cheryl has come to stay for a couple of nights from Corriverton. She will be going home for three months and then returning for an extension of 6 months on her placement. Celebrated by going to new thriving Chinese restaurant followed by karaoke at the Roopa Bar in Station St. No I didn't sing but Cheryl and Lucia did (like angels) the best in the bar.

3rd October 2008 - Programme Area Review at VSO for which I am NCERD representative - planning for future of the Education Programme

It's 2nd October 2008 and Celia from Mabaruma Region One comes to stay for a week for the Programme area Review and some work in a Georgetown Special School

It's 25th September 2008 and you may think we are counting down but today we worked out that there are only 20 weeks to go left in Guyana. Now, that's significant because, although it may seem like a long time. it means that we are 80% complete but we've still got about 50% of the work to do. Mary is in Bartica at the moment (I'm a bachelor for two days) doing workshops with her literacy educators. It's been a bit of a challenging day for her but she got through it. Speedboats there and back (Peter and Angela you know all about that). I'm plodding through the module on Financial Management. Not exactly exciting but one of my strengths so hopefully it'll tuirn out alright in the end.

Mary's off to Region One Mabaruma next week. She'll have to go by twin prop 10 seater plane. So on my own for another week. Will miss her but will get lots of work done.

It's 20th September 2008 and we're spending a quiet weekend at home with the usual shopping and cooking for the week. Mary has just prepared bottled garlic pork. Have to leave it a few days before we can eat it.

Just realised that time here is getting shorter. On Thursday we will have 20 weeks remaining. Sounds long but it's really short when you consider what we have to achieve in that time. I am turning away work at the moment. Can't keep up. Big task next month is to train all the Senior leadership Teams of all the 110 schools in Georgetown. Later I will be doing the same in Region 6 and with graduations to attend (that's a great pleasure) and still 5 modules to write and a lot of enjoying ourselves, there won't be much time!

Its 16th September 2008 and yesterday I was proud to be the guest of honour at the Region Two Graduation for the Education Management Programme. Speeches and certificates. it was an excellent affair and very enjoyable to be present.

It's 14th September 2008 and Mary goes to Santa Mission Amerindian Village and shakes hands with the PM who came up on her from behind.

It's 13th September 2008 and like every month on the 13th we celebrated our 19 months in Guyana. There were others who were celebrating 1 month and 13 months. we seem to be the old stagers now! We went th Windjammer restaurant.

It's 12th September 2008 and I delivered a workshop in Bartica Secondary to all the staff on teacher self-evaluation. It's great going to and from work by speedboat.

Flying visit to England

On Thursday night we decided to go home for a few days, on Friday morning we booked a flight, on Saturday at 2-30am we got up, left at 3-30am and were on the plane at six to Barbados. What a turnaround! We have less than three months to go but felt a trip home would do us good and we would be able to see everyone. So that's what we did.

Waiting in Barbados Airport for 10 hours

We spent 10 hours in Barbados - no delays just a scheduled wait - then got the evening plane to Gatwick by Virgin Atlantic, arriving Sunday morning when Matt picked us up. Stayed the night at Ann's and then a few nights with Dad and then John and back to Dad's and then home just over a week later.

Waiting for Virgin to open

It was great to see everyone and catch up and now we are back with only three weeks to our Christmas break and 5 weeks in the new year. We've decided not to do a lot of extensive travelling on the way back because of the state of the £ / $ which makes it really bad value for money but we will just do a bit, probably Brazil, Suriname and French Guyana and then on the New York for a week or so and fly back from there. Should be back home by early March.

Mary writes her diary whilst we wait

We have a lot to do before then. I have completed 7 modules and have 2 to go then all the formatting and putting on the website. Mary has another workshop in Lethem (by small plane) for 5 day's next week and another to train some new master trainers to take over from her and Meg when we leave. All seems to be going well and we should just about be able to do it!

Gatwick on the way home

We just couldn't resist that one last Wetherspoon's fry up on the way back

And if you look carefully below, you will see that they put on a flight especially for us to Bridgetown Barbados - VSO 29. How appropriate!

I know pictures of airports are boring, but that's all we took. So much of a rush at other times, forgot to take the camera out!

Should I be offended or pleased?

At lunchtime today I went to pay my telephone and internet bill. I went to GT&T, was searched on entry and saw two queues - one with around 20 people and another with 3. I joined the one with three. Then I looked up and saw "Senior citizen's only". So resigned to a long wait I went over and joined the long queue.

Lo and behold, the guard came up to me and said "This is your queue". Well, I know my hair may be a little speckled with grey but I don't see myself as a senior citizen. But I didn't argue. You never argue with a man with a gun! Well, that's my excuse for joining the pensioners' line and being out in two minutes.

But in Guyana, I would be a senior citizen at 55 so "what the heck? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Diwali Celebrations

Today was a national holiday for Deepavali - Hindu Festival of Light. We were invited along to the home of a sister of one of the master trainers that I work with. We were provided with the most wonderful spread. It is amazing how some people can make meatless food so tasty. There were so many traditional dishes both savoury and sweet - never seen so many deserts. We had our fill and they must have cooked enough for 50 and it was packed into boxes and given to neighbours. What a lovely idea and celebration.

These are the things we will miss when we leave Guyana.

Deepavali 2008

When you are here for more than a year, things come round for a second time and you fall into a pattern. Well, it's Diwali time -Indian festival of light at the darkest time of the year.There's a motorcade in Georgetown and several others all over the country. So like last year we went along to see it with all of the crowds.

It was bigger than last year and more people with more floats all lit up in their multicoloured lights, large Lilly leaves with young girls sitting in them and tributes to the Gods. All in all it was a very colourful affair and was great to watch and be a part of. Except for one thing. Some silly people threw firecrackers and one went right by us, jumped up and hit our VSO friend who took the brunt of it, burning her bag, her jeans and, worst of all, her skin. Had to go to hospital but is recovering with a nasty burn which will heal but put a sour taste to the evening. She's fine though, very brave and up and moving again.

The floats leave the Shri Krishna Mandir in New Campbellville and go along the East Coast to La Bonne Intention (I love that name - it's what I am full of). It was only an hour late getting to us so that is good timing by Guyana's standards.

Cultural Extravaganza - Guyana Police Force

You know there are some times when you need a lift because life is a little bit samey. Well this weekend was it. Not so much the weekend but from Sunday night onwards. Weekend was the same as always - shopping etc etc. But on Sunday evening we splashed out the $500 each (that's £1.50 since the recession) and went to the National Cultural Centre. For those who know Croydon, it's like a smaller version of Fairfield Halls and very nice.

Despite its title it was a mixture of talent from the Guyana Police Force and friends. It was police and military bands, singers, indian dance, gymnastics and Creole comedy (we're starting to understand some of it now). It's not just about the words but the culture. It was great and really uplifting. There was such talent it was surprising they ever find time to do their shooting practice with the automatic weapons they carry around with them. As usual, I digress. One even played a rifle like a trumpet. We really enjoyed it.

Thankyou Guyana Police Force!

Canadian Thanksgiving

I've never been to a Thanksgiving before, American or Canadian and so it was a great treat when we were invited by Miriam, our Canadian volunteer friend (honoroury VSO - she is with the church volunteering for three years), invited us for the Canadian Thanksgiving on 13th October. It fully lived up to expectations!

Not easy to get a turkey in Guyana but she did it and our VSO friends Nicolette and Martin regalled us with a magnificant Pumkin Pie (never had that before either) which was really delicious. Actually the food was superb and the company even better. Pity Mary and Meg had to miss it, being on their way to Mahdia. Turkey, all the trimmings. What a treat.

Thanks Miriam! I wasn't the only non Canadian because Peace Corps American Chase was there. They certainly do it in style even in Guyana.

Nicolette and Martin's Pumpkin Pie

Latest news for October

Just to let you know that the latest news for the month of October has been updated. So just look at the sidebar on the right.

Link to www.ncerdleaders.com

Did you know that you can now access this blog through:

http://www.stephenharding.co.uk/

It's easier to remember.


But also, the http://www.ncerdleaders.com/ website (in the form of a blog) is now fully operational. I have spent many hours working on it. All of the modules that I have written are on it as well as a description of the Graduation I attended and the workshop at Bartica High School and much more. So if you are interested in the work we do, just check it out.

Graduation Report -Click here!

Bartica High School Report - Click here!

Mary's visit to Santa Mission Amerindian Village

"Inspiring our nation to move forward in unity"

On 13th September 2008, last Sunday, Mary went to Santa Mission to celebrate Amerindian Heritage Month and it was a really good day out. There were all the usual long winded speeches but she said it was lovely to see the children singing and dancing and reciting poems.

The Prime Minister was the guest of honour and after the ceremonies, including the opening of the new school, he went 'walkabout'. She was sitting on the grass with the group of people she was with and did not know he was behind her until he shook her hand, asked her if she was VSO and told her she was very welcome in Guyana. Somehow I don't think you are meant to be sitting down when you shake hands with the Prime Minister!

The day included the official opening of a school and the village office, the unveiling of a monument, a kayaking competition, various cultural events and the President (well, the acting President in the form of the Prime Minister).

You can see all of the photographs in a slide show here.

Or click on the picture below and it will take you to the actual photos.

News for July and August 2008

It's 31st August 2008 and having a lazy day after Carifesta. Martin and Nicolette return today from Canada and will have dinner with us tonight.

It's 26th August 2008 and Celia (volunteer from Mabaruma Region One) has returned from England on her way back to her placement. More problems with planes and so she didn't get to until 3am. We went to city Hall to see a St Lucia Dance. Brilliant!!!

It's 24th August 2008 and Cheryl has come for the night (volunteer from Corriverton). We went to JR Burgers for a bit of western style food as it was Meg's last day before she goes to New York to see her son and England for a month. We always go to JR's when someone leaves.

It's 22nd August 2008 and Derek and Trudy (volunteers from Bartica) came for the weekend. It is also the starte of Carifesta. See main article on the right.

It's 22nd August 2008 and did the second part of my presentation. Again, it seemed to go alright but I'm not sure that they really wanted to hear what I had to say but were polite and told me I had given them food for thought. This type of training is my least favourite part of my placement and I have to confess it causes me a lot of stress. But it's over now.

It's 21st August 2008 and Peter and Angela are already on their way home after a superb week of adventure, chat and the occasional Rum and Juice. Today I had a big workshop presentation with all of the Regional Education Directors and all of the Offoicers of the Ministry of Education. It was a real challenge for me as i was asked to describe education as it exists in Guyana from my point of view and then give strategies on how to develop it. It went OK but was far from easy.

It's 13th August 2008 and Peter and Angela didn't arrive last night but were directed to Trinidad where they stayed in a hotel for 3 hours and then got the 4am flight to Georgetown. Some violent lightening storms put out the lights on the runway in Georgetown and so they couldn't leave until it was light. We met them and the adventure started. See main article on left.

It's 12th August 2008 and our friends peter and Angela are arriving today at around 10pm.

It's 8th August 2008 and the workshop is over. It was a great success, a triumph because i got a standing ovation at the end so they must have liked it. Lots of hard work but makes you feel good about what you do.

It's 4th August 2008 and today I started my biggest workshop of the year - Master Trainers from all over the country - 32 of them. They are the people who train the Headteachers and I train them. What a responsibility.

It's 27th July 2008 and I am on my own. Mary is in Mahdia in Region 8 with Meg delivering her fast Track Initiative Literacy Workshop. I'm pleased to report that we are both well and thriving in Guyana.

It's 9th July 2008 and it's Matt's birthday. Happy Birthday, Matt. I always seem to be saying how busy we are and it's certainly true. We had a three day weekend because of Caricom Day. It's like the EU for the Caribbean. We were saying how much we enjoyed the extra day but we are also really looking forward to the 7 day weekends we hope to enjoy when we get home. Yes, we are starting to think of home as it gets closer because there is so much to do in just 7 months.

Mary continues to do her Phonics Fast Track workshops and will be doing some serious travelling with Meg in the next few weeks. 3 -5 day workshops in Bartica Region 7, followed by Mahdia Region 8 in the mountains and the next week Mabaruma Region 1. All require a long boat or plane ride. I will be a lonely batchelor but I have enough work to do to keep me occupied.

My deadlines are now that I have to have 5 modules print ready (about 80 pages each) by 18th July. A tall order but it will be done. So, my computer in the office is red hot and I am churning it out at an alarming rate. Thank God for the internet and, in particular, the Standards Site which helps me enormously.

Whilst writing this our landlady has just rung the bell and given me a basket of bananas from the garden. This morning a teacher gave us a bag of mangos so I know what the juice will be next week.

I notice that the longest day in England has passed. Every day in Guyana is the longest day as they are all the same length - 12 hours day and 12 hours night. There's no sense, therefore, of the passage of time except for the rainy season which is now over but the weather doesn't seem to have noticed yet because we have torrential rain almost every day. I battle through the rain on my bike but Mary sometimes gets a taxi as she is performing and can't arrive all wet.

Carifesta X Guyana

About every two years, a huge festival is held in the Caribbean. It started 36 years ago in Guyana and it has returned here this year for Carifesta X (ten).

The whole week has been full of activities - cultural, religious, culinary, literary etc. It has been a great success and Guyana has done itself proud. They are to be congratulated. From an outsider's point of view it has been all it should have been. It seems, however, that a few Guyanese boycotted it for political reasons. That's sad because anything that brings peoples together cannot be a bad thing.

We enjoyed it and went to a literary evening with readings from Guyanaese writers, a children's play performed by the children Mary works with, the Amerindian village, Sophia exhibition centre - arts and crafts and an excellent performance by a St Lucia Dance Troupe who performed the Village dance with such energy that we wre exhausted just watching it.

The opening was marred by rain at first but when it cleared it was excellent. We saw it on TV as tickets were hard to get for the National Stadium. But the rest of the week has had little rain and has been in the 90s feeling well over 100 with the humidity. But that's the way it is here.

The Bahamas will have a lot to live up to in two years time. The closing ceromony is tonight. Well done Guyana!

To see the official website of Carifest, click here

Slideshow of Carifesta X

Peter and Angela's visit

We want to thank Peter and Angela for making the 14,000km return trip to visit us here in Georgetown, Guyana - no mean feat when you consider the journey, the heat, the humidity, the mosquitoes and of course, the expense. They arrived after a slight hiccup with flights and runway lights (nothing serious) on 13th August 2008 after a week's stay on Palm Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

We had an excellent week. We visited Bartica by speedboat and walked to the monastery (nothing like you would expect in England). On our return we stayed one night in the Toucan Inn in Meten Meer Zorg and then back to Georgetown.

Peter and Angela went to Kaieteur on the Sunday. We spent time in Georgetown loooking at the tourist trail (if there is one!) - museums, zoo etc. We had lots of lovely meals and imbibed a fair portion of Rum punch with excellent conversation.

We finished up at Cara Lodge for a meal on Wednesday night. It's an old colonial style restaurant with excellent food.

The visit was too short but life is like that and they had to return for work, examination results and all the mundane things in life. A wonderful time was had by all.

To see some more of the pictures, see the slideshow below:-

To see the full size pictures, click on the picture below:-

Peter and Angela's visit

Master Trainers' Workshop

Stephen addressing Master Trainers with

Minister of Education Hon. Shaik Baksh and Mr Goolsarran (Director of NCERD)

The main part of my job is to train the Master Trainers who train the aspiring Heads and Headteachers in post on the Education Management Certificate Programme. I am also responsible for rewriting all of the materials for this programme. I am half way there. One of the reasons why I have not done many postings on this blog is because I have been preoccupied with a lot of training anf the prepartaion in the last couple of months. In addition I have been working on the NCERD website which is now in the form of a blog.

http://www.ncerdleaders.com/

Anyway, back to the workshop. There were 32 Headteachers / Regional Directors / District Education Officers who all carry out this task. We met for a full week's training in NCERD. A full report on this workshop can be found on the above website or click the link below to go directly to it:-

Official Report

Master Trainers' Workshop

Report with Pictures

Picture report of workshop

Thanks to Mary for so ably assisting me throughout the week!!!!

News for May and June 2008

It's 29th June 2008 and this must be the longest time I haven't kept the blog up to date. but we were away for three weeks so I'm sure you will forgive me. It's just after nine on Sunday morning and it's hot again. We are in the middle of the rainy season and we certainly have had a lot of rain especially in the last few days. Yesterday, going to the market as you do on a Saturday, I was as wet as if I had stood under a shower for ten minutes. But so was everyone else, so it didn't matter.

Life is certainly very busy for us and will be until the end of our placement in February. Mary has been working with Meg on the National Literacy fast Track Initiative. They have been training people (some teachers, some students, some members of the general public) to teach reading in after school clubs. It is an enormous workshop and they have to train the whole country in three day workshops so their work is cut out for months and then they will have to monitor and do follow ups so there will be no let up.

On the other hand, I'm not training at the moment. All that will start again when the course starts in September. Then I'll be off to the deepest parts of the country. Currently, I am a bit office bound because I continue to write the programme. Now on to Module 4 of 9 which I must finish by Christmas. Tall order considering all the other things I have to do. This one is about the curriculum and is probably the hardest because it will need a complete rewrite. It mainly deals with secondary education and needs to be slanted towards nursery and primary as well. What do I know about nursery schools? I know that the children hang onto your ankles an awful lot but that's all. So I will have to be a fast learner.

Social life as always has been good but I have opted out of one or two things but Mary is up there with the best. She went to the FIFA world cup match played at the new Providence cricket ground (I though the pitches were different shapes!!!) and saw Guyana beaten 2 - 1 by Suriname, the Dutch speaking neighbours but she said the second half was really great especially when the crowd turned up. I think they expected it would be like most Guyanese things starting 2 hours late but it seems to have started on time because it was World Cup and so lots would have missed the start.

We went to the Brazilian Embassy June Festival yesterday evening. it was packed and a great atmosphere. we followed the theme by going to the Brazilian restaurant afterwards - wonderful barbecue meat!!!! We met with Meg's friends, Maureen and Brian who are over for a week or so.

And that's all our news for the moment and I'll try not to leave it for a month next time.

It's 31st May and another month has almost come to an end and we've been in England for almost a week. Stayed with Dad and then came to Swindon to visit Peter and Angela. Made us unbelievably welcome as always. Going back to London today and the tour continues!

It's 24th May and we're flying off to England via Trinidad in just 4 hours! Yippee. Hope to see some of you there.

It's 17th May and we are seriously into the rainy season. So far not as bad as last year but little and often. Never mind, that's the way Guyana is.

Since we came back from Barbados we have not stopped, especially Mary. Working alongside her VSO partner in NCERD Meg, they have delivered a five day workshop on the new National Literacy Project to Educators (teachers) from the north of the country, given a presentation to Jamaicans on the Literacy Hour (including one hour video they produced), given a two day Fresh Start Literacy workshop and on Monday, they will be off to the East of the country to do another 3 days on the National Literacy Project.

On the other hand I have been plodding away at the rewrite of my Headteachers' course. Writer's block has definately gone and now making good progress. Hope to complete another module before we go home next Saturday for a well deserved break, although I don't think it will be a rest. I have completed the preparation of the next set of HT exams and presented it to the exam board as well as all sorts of things such as working on the Education Strategic Plan.

Looking forward to seeing any of you who may be around at the time. See over to the left for some photos of the last few weeks.

It's 6th May and Barbados is already history. We had a wonderful time - aquamarine seas, white sand, perfect weather, wonderful food and and and..........

Back to work today and a lot of frustrations for Mary and Meg, but that's another story. My Education Management Certificate results were the best ever - 99% success. So I must be doing something right.

News for August

It's 31st August 2008 and having a lazy day after Carifesta. Martin and Nicolette return today from Canada and will have dinner with us tonight.

It's 26th August 2008 and Celia (volunteer from Mabaruma Region One) has returned from England on her way back to her placement. More problems with planes and so she didn't get to until 3am. We went to city Hall to see a St Lucia Dance. Brilliant!!!

It's 24th August 2008 and Cheryl has come for the night (volunteer from Corriverton). We went to JR Burgers for a bit of western style food as it was Meg's last day before she goes to New York to see her son and England for a month. We always go to JR's when someone leaves.

It's 22nd August 2008 and Derek and Trudy (volunteers from Bartica) came for the weekend. It is also the starte of Carifesta. See main article on the right.

It's 22nd August 2008 and did the second part of my presentation. Again, it seemed to go alright but I'm not sure that they really wanted to hear what I had to say but were polite and told me I had given them food for thought. This type of training is my least favourite part of my placement and I have to confess it causes me a lot of stress. But it's over now.

It's 21st August 2008 and Peter and Angela are already on their way home after a superb week of adventure, chat and the occasional Rum and Juice. Today I had a big workshop presentation with all of the Regional Education Directors and all of the Offoicers of the Ministry of Education. It was a real challenge for me as i was asked to describe education as it exists in Guyana from my point of view and then give strategies on how to develop it. It went OK but was far from easy.

It's 13th August 2008 and Peter and Angela didn't arrive last night but were directed to Trinidad where they stayed in a hotel for 3 hours and then got the 4am flight to Georgetown. Some violent lightening storms put out the lights on the runway in Georgetown and so they couldn't leave until it was light. We met them and the adventure started. See main article on left.

It's 12th August 2008 and our friends peter and Angela are arriving today at around 10pm.

It's 8th August 2008 and the workshop is over. It was a great success, a triumph because i got a standing ovation at the end so they must have liked it. Lots of hard work but makes you feel good about what you do.

It's 4th August 2008 and today I started my biggest workshop of the year - Master Trainers from all over the country - 32 of them. They are the people who train the Headteachers and I train them. What a responsibility.

It's 27th July 2008 and I am on my own. Mary is in Mahdia in Region 8 with Meg delivering her fast Track Initiative Literacy Workshop. I'm pleased to report that we are both well and thriving in Guyana.

It's 9th July 2008 and it's Matt's birthday. Happy Birthday, Matt. I always seem to be saying how busy we are and it's certainly true. We had a three day weekend because of Caricom Day. It's like the EU for the Caribbean. We were saying how much we enjoyed the extra day but we are also really looking forward to the 7 day weekends we hope to enjoy when we get home. Yes, we are starting to think of home as it gets closer because there is so much to do in just 7 months.

Mary continues to do her Phonics Fast Track workshops and will be doing some serious travelling with Meg in the next few weeks. 3 -5 day workshops in Bartica Region 7, followed by Mahdia Region 8 in the mountains and the next week Mabaruma Region 1. All require a long boat or plane ride. I will be a lonely batchelor but I have enough work to do to keep me occupied.

My deadlines are now that I have to have 5 modules print ready (about 80 pages each) by 18th July. A tall order but it will be done. So, my computer in the office is red hot and I am churning it out at an alarming rate. Thank God for the internet and, in particular, the Standards Site which helps me enormously.

Whilst writing this our landlady has just rung the bell and given me a basket of bananas from the garden. This morning a teacher gave us a bag of mangos so I know what the juice will be next week.

I notice that the longest day in England has passed. Every day in Guyana is the longest day as they are all the same length - 12 hours day and 12 hours night. There's no sense, therefore, of the passage of time except for the rainy season which is now over but the weather doesn't seem to have noticed yet because we have torrential rain almost every day. I battle through the rain on my bike but Mary sometimes gets a taxi as she is performing and can't arrive all wet.

Latest news from Guyana

It's hard to believe but it is already a month and a half since we came back from England and for those of you who have been looking, there has been a surprisingly small number of blog posts. There is no excuse really, just a lack of inclination and a lot of work. But today I feel inclined. Actually it's a special day today because, according to the little widget on the side bar on the right, we have only 200 days left in Guyana. That sounds about right because it's 6 months to go on 13th August and that's not far away.

Miss Ali (Head of Unit), Director of NCERD Mr Goolsarran, Minister Fox on the far right

Meg and Mary waiting for the start of their first of many FTI workshops klistening to the opening speech by the Minister

Mary and Meg went to Region 8 on Saturday, which is the most remote region in the mountains. They went to a place called Mahdia to deliver their fast Track Initiative Literacy Workshop. Not sure how many they have done so far but probably around fifteen or so all over the place. They were really looking forward to it, although it took them about 8 and a half hours in a minibus, on an unmade road. When they looked up the town it said it was a mining town, (gold and diamonds), it has a population of between 100 -500, a dry store, a garage, a hotel and a brothel. It left them wondering where they would be sleeping! Anyway, she has just called to say that because of storms, the teachers who were coming to the workshop can’t come because their plane is grounded (no roads) so Mary and Meg have to come back all that way tomorrow not having done anything. That’s frustrating Guyana for you! However, they are enjoying delivering the Literacy programme and they had a lovely surprise at work on Thursday. They were both given a Guyanese gold bracelet and picture of Kaieteur Falls as a thank you for their work. It was totally unexpected but very much appreciated.

Educators participating in the FTI workshop

I have been working very hard on my course and it is now half way completed and printed for distribution throughout the country. I have finished Modules 1 - 4 and and a Programme Handbook. Each is between 50 and 100 pages. I have now started planning for my major workshop for Master Trainers in August. They are Headteachers, Regional and District Education Officers from all over the country. It was a great success last year and everyone who came is very keen to come back again this year. All the feedback shows that the training has been very successful and the exam results for the trainees (Headteacher and aspiring Headteachers) were the best ever.

If you want to find out more go to the website http://www.ncerdleaders.blogspot.com/

The following week I will deliver a session at a workshop for all Regional Education Officers throughout the country at the request of the Minister of Education on "Raising Standards in Schools and Regions - Proactive Leadership." This will be short but a big one for me.

We have heard that there is a programme on Wednesday 30th July about Guyana and its wildlife. It is at 8 o’ clock on BBC 1 and it is called "Lost land of the Jaguar". It's a series and promises to be good so watch it if you can.

The weather has been pretty awful for this time of year. it should be dry and hot and sunny. No, not in Guyana. We have the tail end of the hurricanes in Mexico and Texas (better than the hurricane itself, I must say). So we have had serious thunder storms, very heavy rain at no notice, frequent blackouts and it's still hot and the mosquitoes are still around and there should be less of them. But when it's dry, it's very very dry and it's hot all of the time - touching on 34C (95ishF in old money) but extremely humid and feels like 110F at times. But, to be honest we hardly notice it any more and cope very well.

It was sad this week because we had to say goodbye to a colleague we have worked with for a year - One year placement for Special needs - Hans Neienhuijsen. He left on Friday to meet his wife in Trinidad after a little reception on Thursday with speeches from the HOD and Director of NCERD and a presentation for all his efforts. We will miss his joviality, friendliness and wit. Good luck in your new life back in the Netherlands, Mr Hans!

Things are quiet VSO- wise at the moment. Some are returning home for good, some have gone mountain climbing and some gone back to England. Schools are closed and the roads are quiet but work continues for us at its busiest pace. But with anly 200 days to go (that means 515 have been completed) retirement in Wallington is beginning to seem very attractive!

Two or three new volunteers will arrive in August, one of whom will be working in NCERD. She has experience with children's TV in the BBC and her first task will be to assist me in making some programmes about Education Management. She is the third person who has been due to do this but I am convinced that she will come, even though the others weren't able to.

Well, it's Sunday evening and I think my inclination has run out or a Banks Beer calls (the sun is definately over the yardarm) 6 o'clock. So, I'll wish all of my readers a fond fairwell and hope you found this little update interesting.

Banks beer makes Guyana a much better place to live in!

Trinidad June 2008

On our way home from England, we stayed in Trinidad for three nights and had a whistle stop tour of the north of the country. We stayed in Arima which is just an ordinary Trinidad town not really on the tourist trail, just south of the northern range of mountains. But what was wonderful was that the owner of the guest house drove us around the island and gave us 2 1/2 full day tours by minibus and car.

We managed to fit in a night trip to sea the turtles on the beach laying eggs. And that after a 15 hour journey, so we didn't sleep for 22 hours. But we soon recovered the next day to go to a Botanical Gardens in the rainforest and a boat trip to a bird sanctury where we saw flocks of red ibis.

The following day we had a personal guide and toured the north of the island by boat and in particular stopped at some caves where we went deep into the ground to swim in a private natural pool 30ft - 140ft deep. we were the only ones there and it was a chance of a lifetime. This was followed by a tour of port of Spain (capital).

The whole trip was one we will not forget for a long time.

To see more in a slideshow, see below:-

If you prefer to look at the full size pictures, click on the picture link below:-

Trinidad June 2008