Children's Day came early for a group of "Young Cultural Ambassadors" who were given the rare opportunity last Saturday, to interact with a real Ambassador and enjoy a day of learning, art and games at the Embassy of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
The event formed part of an ongoing program of cultural cooperation between the Embassy and China Young Cultural Ambassadors (CYCA) - a six-year-old program, which aims to promote cultural awareness by bringing the world to Chinese children and taking Chinese culture to children all over the world. It was also part of a series of activities organized by the Embassy in commemoration of 45 years of diplomatic relations between Guyana and China.

Group photo of CYCA and Pingo Space kids  /Photo provided by Embassy of Guyana

The two countries will celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations on June 27, 2017 and the activity was designed to foster cross-cultural relations and for Chinese students to have a fun time while learning more about Guyana and the longstanding, friendly relationship between the two countries and peoples.

This year, the Embassy also collaborated with Pingo Space – an app-based program which offers various courses and hands-on activity based classes for children through their Pingo Club, and invited 15 primary school students from each organization to share in the learning experience. Together with CYCA and Pingo Space, the Embassy organized a program of exciting activities for the cultural ambassadors. 

Students eager to question the Ambassador  /Photo provided by Embassy of Guyana

Ambassador Bayney Karran gave a talk about Guyana's history, economy, culture, geographic features and its relationship with China while the students took lessons on how to paint a picture of a jaguar - one of Guyana's iconic animals, under the guidance of Ms. Olga Rybas, a talented art teacher.

Student hard at work trying to capture the image of a jaguar  /Photo provided by Embassy of Guyana

The paintings will be printed on T-shirts and distributed next week to the participants as mementos of their time spent at the Guyana Embassy. The activities ended with the children playing a game of cricket, Guyana's national sport.

A game of cricket in the Embassy compound  /Photo provided by Embassy of Guyana

Before departing, the children presented the Embassy with hand-made gifts, which were deeply appreciated by the Ambassador and staff.

Ambassador Karran receiving handmade gifts on behalf of the Embassy /Photo provided by Embassy of Guyana