Environment NGO hosts camp in seven Region Five schools

The participants and others

Global Youth Movement – Guyana hosted a three-day environment camp at the Weldaad Youth Friendly Space, West Coast Berbice, for 25 students from seven secondary schools in Region Five.

The camp is part of a $23M Community Health, Environment and Recycling Project funded by the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility – Small Grants Programme, a press release said. The exercise was supported by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Mark Ross, executive director of Global Youth Movement said the camp was designed to provide basic information to students on environmental issues as well as explore the solutions to these. The camp was delivered in a fun and simple manner to engage students, who were encouraged to share this information at their schools. “The main goal was to strengthen students’ ability to manage their school environment clubs while sharing information so that environment issues are addressed,” he said.

The facilitators were Vanessa Williams and Candacie Brower-Thompson of the EPA, Taku Yoshida of the JICA and Aretha Forde from the MNRE.

Global Youth Movement – Guyana is also implementing the Berbice Shines Project in both region to enhance spaces and raise awareness about environment issues with the aim of applying community solutions. The students were taught about the natural environment, the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle, composting,