galleries

part one

the first weeks

part two

getting around

part three

the people

peace corps in guyana

if you are coming to this peace corps page, you may already know kristina served as a peace corps volunteer in guyana, south america from 98-2000. here's the full story:

before joining the peace corps, i worked as a social worker at the association house of chicago for five years. i highly recommend visiting the peace corps official website.

in feb 1998 after a long application process, i packed exactly 80 lbs of stuff, and left my friends and family to move to guyana. after two months of training in georgetown, i was assigned as an urban youth development volunteer in mabaruma, guyana. i wasn't sure of the path that this adventure would take, but i knew that it would be a learning experience that would change my perception about development issues, the developing world, and life outside of the u.s. there were certainly challenges along the way, and don't let the pictures fool you into thinking that peace corps is not the "toughest job you'll ever love".

the agency that i was assigned was called the community based rehabilitation programme. my job was to faciliate a two-year distance learning program sponsored by the university of guyana for rural educators. i also taught gymnastics, literacy and health. working with a group of ten kids and forming the gymnastics team was the most memorable time of my experience in guyana. the kids and i spent many long hours preparing for the mashramani celebration. mashramani is a mix between labor day and carnival.

mabaruma is located in region #1 of guyana, along the barima river, bording venezuela. the only tranportation to mabaruma is by small plane or a long boat ride (2-3 days) from the capital city of georgetown. the people that i worked along side, became friends with and learned from will forever be in my heart.

peace corps in guyana image gallery one
peace corps in guyana image gallery two
peace corps in guyana image gallery three