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Originally uploaded by hawaiianbrian.

Group picture taken on stage at the National Cultural Center after the ceremony. From left to right: Jason, Jody, Michael, Kumar (CD), Beth, Karla, Rustin, Jacq, Roanne, Brian, Wes, Charge D’Affaires at US Embassy, Liz, Andrea, Caroline, Lydia, Nancy, David, Ministry of Education Officer, Erin, Luke, Justin.

This photo appeared in the Guyana Chronicle along with the following article, found at: www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2030-07-05.html#...

Nineteen Peace Corps volunteers sworn in
By Renu Raghubir
NINETEEN Americans will be dispatched soon in six of the ten Administrative Regions to teach in schools and other institutions, boosting the government’s continuing drive to enhance education delivery.

The young men and women were sworn-in as Volunteer Peace Corps (VPCs) by Deputy Chief of Mission of Peace Corps, Mr. Anthony Interlandi last evening at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown.Associate Director of Training, Mr. Claudius Prince, who chaired the ceremony, said the batch went through eight weeks of training that concluded on Thursday.

They will teach Information Technology, Mathematics and Science in a number of primary and secondary schools and educational centres.

Prince said the volunteers will be dispatched to Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), Four (Demerara/Mahaica), Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice).

He said, “The group is well-rounded, they understand the way of life of the people who have been hosting them and they are anxious to work in the schools.”

Deputy Chief Education Officer responsibility for Development, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Genevieve White-Nedd, welcomed the batch. She pointed out that the Ministry in its 2003 to 2007 Strategic Plan includes the institutionalising of community alliances and partnerships.

According to her, the Peace Corps has a longstanding relationship with the Ministry and many schools have benefited over the years.

Mrs. White-Nedd said the volunteers’ presence in Guyana is at a most ideal time as there is a shortage of teaching staff among other difficulties facing the Ministry. She explained that they will assist in eliminating illiteracy.

Mr. Interlandi encouraged the volunteers to strive to enhance public health, comfort and care for people and serve with “everything you got”.

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 to promote world peace and friendship by helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women.

It has 7,733 Volunteers in 72 countries working to teach children, bring about HIV/AIDS awareness, and improve information technology and business development.

The Guyana volunteers also received certificates for successfully completing their training.

georgetown.usembassy.gov/guyana/charge_peacecorps.html

Swearing-in Ceremony: Peace Corps Guyana
National Cultural Center
July 29, 2005

Remarks by Anthony J. Interlandi, Charge D’Affaires

Founding of the Peace Corps

It was 2 o'clock in the morning of October 14, 1960. Democratic Party Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy arrived late to speak to students at the University of Michigan.

More than 10,000 of them had patiently awaited Kennedy’s arrival [historical documents.com].

On that chilly autumn night, Kennedy challenged those youth to devote part of their lives to live and work in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

He wanted them to back his effort to form a volunteer organization, later to be known as the Peace Corps.

The student response was immediate. Within weeks, they organized a petition drive and gathered 1,000 signatures in support of the idea. Several hundred others pledged to serve. Letters poured into Democratic Party headquarters.

Kennedy went on to win the election in November 1960. He made founding of the Peace Corps a priority.

Within two months of taking office, Kennedy issued an Executive order establishing the Peace Corps within the State Department.

He used authority and funds from the Mutual Security Act of 1954 to set up the Peace Corps as a unit within the Department of State.

The Executive Order directed the Peace Corps to train men and women for service abroad for new programs of assistance to nations of the world.

The Peace Corps would support existing U.S. economic assistance programs [Executive Order 10924, 1961].

Kennedy named his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, to head the new agency. Shriver was a fervent idealist. Within months the first volunteers trained and went to the field.

Kennedy and Shriver wanted permanence and autonomy for the Peace Corps. Many members of Congress agreed.

In September 1961, the 87th Congress passed Public Law 87-293. It established the Peace Corps as an independent agency of the United States Government.

Since then, more than 168,000 citizens of all ages and backgrounds have worked in more than 130 countries throughout the world. They have served in fields such as health, teaching, agriculture, and technology.

Today in Guyana

You, the Class of Guy 16, follow in these hallowed footsteps.

It will be your duty to serve in schools.

It will be your duty to improve informational technology in Guyana. You will do this by working with volunteer organizations, schools and the University of Guyana.

In addition, all Peace Corps volunteers train to help prevent the scourge of HIV/AIDS in Guyana. Use your talents to enhance public health.

Always conduct yourself with dignity and discipline, because:

You, more than I, or others, will be the face of United States of America in your communities.

You will be the face of 45 years of the finest Peace Corps tradition of service and brotherhood.

On November 22, 1963, an assassin extinguished the life of John F. Kennedy.

But that assassin did not extinguish – nor could he extinguish – that shining vision of an American outreach to the world.

Today, John Kennedy’s vision lives on in you.

Sargent Shriver’s Exhortation

Sargent Shriver summed it best at the 40th anniversary of the Peace Corps, at the Lincoln Memorial on September 22, 2001:

Here’s what he said [www.medaloffreedom.com/Sargent Shriver.htm, 2005]:

“…The Peace Corps exists to serve our fellow human beings, regardless of race, education or power…
The Peace Corps works it magic from below, not from above…
It concentrates on the basics of food, health, education and community…”
You as Peace Corps volunteers, thus, must go out and
“…Be servants of peace…
Work humbly, persistently and intelligently…
Weep with those who are sorrowful…
Care for those who are sick…
Serve your neighbors…
Serve your towns…
Serve the poor…
That is your challenge…”
I implore you to:
Go out and use all of your training…
Go out and use all of the talents given to you by your Creator…
Go out and stay faithful to the oath you will take…
And, above all, in the timeless words of Sargent Shriver…
Go out and…
“Serve! Serve! And Serve!”