Henry in Guyana

Ivan Chin, born 1923 in Georgetown, Guyana came to the UK during the Second World War after signing up for the RAF. By the time he arrived it was all over-however he remained in the UK, staying in the RAF for a while then doing a government-sponsored business course. Later, he did a number of things including running a steel band, working for the Foreign Office and having a few children, after which I was born followed by my brother Dominic. Of mixed African and Chinese descent he met my British mother which explains to some degree my ambiguous ethnicity. Sadly, he died of cancer in 1994 aged 71.

In September 2008 I began planning what would become the adventure I am about to depart for: a six month volunteering trip to Guyana. I decided that after a number of years of following a fairly standard path through school and university it was time for a serious adventure, and so the project was born.
Having never been to Guyana (and to this day knowing very little about it), it seemed like the perfect place to go. Guyana is a little-understood developing country (the number of people who have asked about my trip to Ghana...), former British colony and the only English speaking country in South America. A little smaller than Britain, it has a population of around 750,000 with a mix of predominantly Amerindian, African and Indian ethnicities, plus significant Chinese and Portuguese communities as well. Culturally it is considered part of the Caribbean.

I began working with a small charity in London called the Daneford Trust, who whilst advertising it had projects in Guyana had yet to actually set one up! As a result I am now the guinea pig which I am very happy to be. I chose a volunteering project over classic "travelling" because I wanted the opportunity to live in and understand the country rather than just passing through. Hopefully six months will be long enough to do this (although I hear that such adventures can be addictive).

Fundraising went well with a number of contributors making a big difference to my project. Planning the project however was a little more tricky. With no (known) family there and few links, it took a long time for anything to materialise. However in the past few weeks a lot has happened; I have been put in touch with St. Stanislaus College in Georgetown (the capital) and I'm heading out there to help with their IT teaching and infra-structure. To be honest I won't know exactly what will happen there until I arrive, however they teach Computer Science at A level and have a broadband internet, so things must be quite good. I guess I'll find out when I get there!

This blog will serve as a log and a way of communicating how my adventures go. I plan to update it at least every week or two. Watch this space...