GLU facilitates Creolese workshop for Peace Corps in Essequibo

Wai-Wai translator Bernicia Chekema shares her experiences of bilingualism

On June 21 2023, representatives from the GLU once again travelled to the Bacchus’ Library, Affiance, Essequibo Coast, Region 2, to facilitate a two-hour workshop on Creolese for the 2023-2025 cohort of American Peace Corps volunteers.

Each cohort of Peace Corps volunteers usually serves for two years in the health, education and environment sectors in Guyana. Before travelling to their allocated sites, the volunteers are sensitized to key issues in Guyana, such as health, safety and security, language and culture over a ten-week training period.

Charlene Wilkinson explains linguistic diversity and identity in Guyana

Charlene Wilkinson, Coordinator of the GLU, gave a general overview of the political dimensions of language issues in Guyana at the start of the workshop. Bernicia Chekema, a native Wai Wai speaker and GLU translator, then shared her experience of raising a multilingual family in Georgetown, as someone married to a native Creolese speaker.

Ronda Thomas, a native Creolese speaker and GLU translator from the island of Wakenaam in the Essequibo, brought a different perspective: sharing how she was able to overcome the prejudices against her mother tongue.

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