Category Archives: Press

GEORGETOWN – The WITNESS Project rolled out its posters on Saturday, January 28, with the help of Ambassador Brent Hardt, who volunteered to display posters along the sea wall. The U.S. Embassy also showed its support for the WITNESS Project by displaying posters along the Embassy walls.

Headed by the Margaret Clemons Foundation, the WITNESS Project uses photos taken by Guyanese youth to create posters that send a message to adults: that children are the most vulnerable and impressionable witnesses to violence.

In August, 15 Guyanese children between the ages of 10 and 17 were given cameras and set out to capture the faces of Guyanese youth. These images were created into posters, which were installed throughout Georgetown on January 26 – 28.

Guyana’s participation in this project is unique because it is the only country to use child photographers.

WITNESS Project is a participant in the artist JR’s global project to change the world through art called INSIDE OUT. To thank the Guyanese youth for their involvement, JR surprised the volunteers with a 30-second video thanking them for their efforts.

View press release on U.S. Embassy Guyana website.

Georgetown : The Margaret Clemons Foundation (MCF) rolled out the first phase of its “Inside Out Witness Project”, which aims to draw attention to and spark conversation about the effects of adult human behaviour, particularly gender based and child directed violence on society’s most vulnerable and impressionable witnesses, children.

Ministers of Human Services and Social Security and Education, Jennifer Webster and Priya Manickchand respectively today joined 15 Guyanese children, US Ambassador Brendt Hardt and Canadian High Commissioner, David Devine, and several volunteers yesterday as they lined the sea walls at Turkeyen with artwork depicting the human eyes, symbolising the firm stance to ensure that abuse and violence against children and women, do not go unnoticed.

Minister Manickchand in a brief comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA) emphasised that in their actions, adults need to be more conscious of the fact that children are witnessing everything, both good and bad that is happening in society so as to ensure that negative and harmful behavioural patterns are not imparted to them.

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The Margaret Clemons Foundation (MCF) today rolled out the first phase of its Inside Out Witness Project, which aims to draw attention to and spark conversation about the effects of adult human behaviour, particularly gender based and child directed violence on society’s most vulnerable and impressionable witnesses, children. 

Ministers of Human Services and Social Security and Education, Jennifer Webster and Priya Manickchand respectively today joined 15 Guyanese children, US Ambassador Brendt Hardt and Canadian High Commissioner, David Devine, and several volunteers as they lined the sea walls at Turkeyen with artwork depicting the human eyes, symbolising the firm stance to ensure that abuse and violence against children and women, do not go unnoticed.

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A project which started here in August and which uses the arts in the battle to stop violence against women and children, has received a major boost that could see the work of Guyanese children highlighted the world over.

The Witness Project, through which the Margaret Clemons Foundation (MCF) seeks to draw attention to and spark conversations about the effects of adult human behaviour, particularly gender based and child directed violence on society’s most vulnerable and impressionable witnesses, our children, is part of the global photography project by the French artist JR called Inside Out.

Witness has been adopted by the New York-based technology, entertainment and design (TED) Prize. As a result, video footage of the roll out of the project is to be included in a documentary film that will reach an international audience. The roll out, which was slated to be held next month, has been pushed back to January 2012, because of the general and regional elections which are also scheduled for next month.

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WITNESS Project – Ambassador’s Visit and Photo Session

The Margaret Clemons Foundation invited Ambassador Hardt to visit the School of Nations to have his photograph taken by the WITNESS project photographers. The Ambassador was accompanied by Mrs. Saskia Hardt

Through the WITNESS Project, headed by the Margaret Clemons Foundation, 15 Guyanese children between the ages of 10 and 17 have come together to send a message to adults:  that children are the most vulnerable and impressionable witnesses to violence.  They were given cameras and set out to capture the faces of Guyanese youth, which will be displayed throughout Georgetown in January 2012. 

WITNESS Project is a participant in the artist JR’s global project to change the world through art called INSIDE OUT.

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…about bringing Sesame Street’s educational programming to Guyana
Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, and Bayney Karran, Guyana’s permanent ambassador to the United States, last Thursday met with senior executives at Sesame Workshop in New York, New York, to discuss collaboration with the Government of Guyana to bring Sesame Street’s educational television programming to Guyana’s children. The meeting was facilitated by the Margaret Clemons Foundation, one of the Government of Guyana’s partners in ending violence against women and children. Attending the meeting from Sesame were Mel Ming, Chief Operating Officer; Charlotte Cole, Senior Vice President Global Education; Lisa Annunziata, Vice President Production Operations Global TV; Jorge Baxter, Director International Research; Christopher Capobianco, Senior Director Project Management; Nancy Stevenson, Director Character Design; and Alysia Christiani, Studio Manager Marketing & Creative Services

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– honoured for advancing gender issues
Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand last week explored the possibility of creating advanced training programmes for social services workers in Guyana while on a visit to Lesley University and the Margaret Clemons Foundation, during which she was honoured for her work on gender issues.

The training, which could include Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as certified programmes in counselling and expressive therapies would initially target social services providers working with children and women. The training would help to further professionalize social services in Guyana.

According to a press release, the training programmes will be built on cutting edge expressive art therapies approaches in which counsellors will engage clients in the healing process through the therapeutic use of the arts.

Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand discusses possible collaboration with Lesley President Joe Moore.
Last Wednesday, the release said, the Minister observed a Masters’ level course offered by the US based university which is designed to train counsellors in expressive art therapy and to address issues of power, privilege and culture in counselling.

Manickchand later joined Lesley University Provost Martha McKenna; Lesley University Under Graduate Dean, Mary Coleman; other members of the University faculty along with the president and staff of the Margaret Clemons Foundation in a series of meetings to explore possible options for the design of the counsellor training programs.

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The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security will be sending four senior staff members and a staff member of Help and Shelter, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they will attend the Peaceable Schools & Communities Institute (PSCI) at Lesley University. 

The team will be travelling to the United States next week, where they will be introduced to arts-based strategies used in education and therapist training and will see how the arts can be used to achieve awareness, healing and transformation.  

They will be instructed by doctors Ulric Johnson of Springfield College of Human Services and Linda Brion-Meisels of Lesley University; who will enlighten them on the strategies to prevent, intervene and heal the challenges of domestic and gender-related violence that many face in their communities. 

During their three-day stint at the Peaceable Schools and Communities Institute, the five participants from Guyana will join with educators and social service professionals from across the US to engage in discussions based on prevention and intervention strategies. 

This initiative is being sponsored by the Margaret Clemons Foundation (MCF); a New York based non-profit organisation, whose mission is to prevent violence, particularly against women and children. 

“I am privileged to have the opportunity to serve the people of Guyana and to work with Priya Manickchand to sponsor programming for the Ministry’s staff and to begin the development of sustainable programming that will reach all of the people of Guyana,” said Margaret Clemons of the MCF.

She further commended Minister Manickchand for her tireless efforts in defending women and children.

Clemons will be visiting Guyana in late July, to meet with Minister Manickchand, and the staff of Help & Shelter and the social service professionals who participated in the Peaceable Schools program as a follow up to their visit. She will also discuss future collaborative efforts between the MCF and the Ministry. 

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