Parikwarunawa – Land of the heavy breeze!

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Continuing our trip, we moved from Maruranau to Parikwarunawa. Just after concluding the video screening, the team began packing to make an early departure the next day. Sigh! But it was not time for home and more so Christmas yet! But it was on my mind as we packed. We left on the 11th December for the next village clear back across the savanna to the south central district of the Rupununi. Close to Lethem that you could almost touch … Read More

Kaimen! Working with the Wapichan from the South Rupununi

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A team consisting of three – Ryan Benjamin, Rebecca Xavier and I (Grace Albert) – departed the north savannas for our journey to the south savannas on the 1st December, 2018. Driving through the North Rupununi Wetlands left the feeling of going away for a while. Bearing in mind, we were indeed going to be away for about 20 days.  The team overnighted in the township of Lethem to do our grocery shopping. The next day, after lunch, we were … Read More

Traditional knowledge challenges and community owned solutions

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Exploring issues and opportunities Building capacity was not the only activity the local North Rupununi District Development Board team was engaged in during their visits to the communities of Apoteri, Rewa, Aranaputa and Fair View. The team also worked with community members to explore the challenges they believed they were facing when it came to their traditional knowledge. The villagers were asked to work on two main tasks. The first was to identify challenges to traditional knowledge related to both … Read More

Getting Creative

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Videographic training at Bina Hill, North Rupununi, Guyana Claudia Nuzzo, participatory video expert from the Cobra Collective, joined the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) Darwin Team at Bina Hill, North Rupununi to work on their video and editing techniques before they head into the communities to begin community research and build local capacity. The NRDDB Team, who previously worked on the COBRA Project, are using this opportunity to build their repertoire in how to edit more dynamic videos, as … Read More

Conversations on fire management

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  Bringing together different perspectives for more participatory and intercultural fire management A ‘Fire Management Week’, 11 -17 March 2017, in Brasilia, Brazil aimed to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences on fire management among representatives of Indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and traditional communities in Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana, researchers, and public policy managers. The aim was to discuss the aspirations and expectations of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities on how to conduct fire actions within their territories. The week … Read More

The power of participatory visual methods

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Giving a voice to people – visual communication has the ability to engage a wide cross-section of society directly. For example, visual posters can be displayed in public places and videos can be uploaded to social media. Going beyond writing – in many places, people cannot read and write well, so visual documentation of local issues means that people are able to express themselves more easily. In addition, using images can help to promote more relaxed and aware participation. This … Read More