The Mission: Awaken An Eco-Conscious Guyana

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To combat pollution and catalyze conservation, Guyana RISE has developed a two-fold strategy of EDUCATION and ORGANIZATION.

The word ‘Guyana’ comes from the American Indian word meaning ‘Land of Many Waters’, a description most fitting of a nation whose fierce rivers and abundant waterfalls are among the world’s most powerful. Dotted with lakes, ponds and streams, the country supports a thriving population, a large percentage of whom are poor and are now gaining access to developed resources such as technology. Waves of economic development and retrenchment delivered a prevalence of cheap, non-biodegradable goods without an infrastructure for waste-management or strict enforcement of garbage disposal policies. The result is a water-scape clogged with pollution, weeds, garbage and plastic bags. Today ‘The Land Of Many Waters’ is fast becoming a geography of stagnant waste.

What Do We Do?

Guyana RISE initiates its strategy by educating young Guyanese on the importance of sustainable ecology. Hosting seminars across the nation, it assembles a collection of Guyanese youth, raises their awareness of environmentalism and relates it to concepts of civility, democracy, and accountability. It challenges young people to rethink their approach to their local space and to brainstorm a picture of the future based on practices today.

The project’s second phase, organization, encourages Guyanese immigrants, especially in the USA and Canada, to reach out to their native community as it orients towards sustainable environmental standards. Using social media such as Facebook, Guyanese youth connect to Guyanese immigrants to set goals, activate community efforts and share the progress of specific project sites such as treasured villages, old towns or polluted lakes. Every few months, Guyana RISE organizes a reach-out trip where overseas members visit the country to spur grassroots action, launch education campaigns and target specific communities for advocacy. 

                                           Youth education + Social-media organization = community of change

What do these communities get out of it? Guyanese immigrants get the chance to engage in pressing, meaningful work while reconnecting with their homeland. Guyanese youth are granted the ability to create valuable relationships with global citizens, most of whom are born of a shared past.

The program believes that co-operation and a shared social incentive are the pathways to overcoming the sustainable development crises which plague industrializing countries.