The Guyana Red Cross Society and Lethem and St Ignatius residents recently installed 74 traffic signs in the two communities.

According to a press release the need for traffic signs had been identified in a Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment that community members did in February. The Red Cross volunteers facilitated the exercise along with the Guyana Police Force Lethem branch and workers from the Ministry of Public Works Road Safety Department. Other stakeholders include the Lethem NDC, Home Affairs and Local Government ministries and the Road Safety Council.

The Red Cross was able to facilitate this micro-project with funding from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance through the American Red Cross. The project is one of many activities that form part of the Readiness to Respond – Increased Disaster Preparedness Capacity through Enhanced Coordination and Community Awareness programme which was piloted in four communities in Guyana. Other activities included promoting community participation, the training of local response teams, development of contingency plans, formation of local disaster preparedness/response committees and identification and implementation of micro-projects.

At a certification ceremony held at the end of the exercise the Community Disaster Response Team members received a quantity of equipment intended for use in responding to disasters. The chairman of the local disaster response team said the community was happy to see the micro-project and other preparedness and response training come to fruition and that they are cognizant of the responsibilities they had undertaken in working with their communities to prepare for and respond to disasters.