  in strength and beauty grow ugun create peace garden at turkeyen campus  in strength and beauty grow ugun create peace garden at turkeyen campus andydindial tue 4062021 1353  in strength and beauty grow ugun create peace garden at turkeyen campus  ugdecc georgetown guyana april 3 2021 ugun create peace garden the chorus of the wellloved national song song for guyana s children contains these poignant words onward upward may we ever go day by day in strength and beauty grow till at length we each of us may show what guyana s sons and daughters can be they are also now given life in the peace garden started last thursday in a beautiful and simple event at the university of guyana s turkeyen campus it brought the formal curtains down on the weeklong activities to mark international day against racism and discrimination the university of guyana collaborated with the united nations for the week on commemorative events the peace garden transforms a space on campus into a garden with benches paintings wind mobiles and flowering plants all depicting or associated with peace love and respect the garden was literally planted by a mix of persons in the united nations and international system here in guyana these included mikiko tanaka head of the united nations in guyana and representatives from unicef undp unhr unwfp ambassadors from several foreign missions based in guyana also joined and planted their tokens of international friendship respect and goodwill those participating were the british high commissioner the canadian high commissioner and deputy chief of mission the indian high commissioner the european union in guyana and the confucius institute of china the basic design and structure of the garden was done by staff of office of philanthropy alumni and civic engagement pace led by ms christine chowagir ug s architecture and art departments led by dr anna perreira and mr winslow craig and michael khan along with the faculties and grounds departments led by mr bjorn williams botany design was led by lecturer in the faculty of natural sciences kimberly craig mural paintings and installation art were done by nelsonia budram persaud director of the centre for communication studies and popular mural artists ransford simon and nigel butler at the launch of the event the officials participated by hanging wind chimes painting rocks and placing flowering and nonflowering plants at the site to bring alive the peace garden which is situated between the university s library and the vice chancellery in her brief remarks during the launch of the event vicechancellor xi prof paloma mohamed martin said the initiative could be the first of many more to come throughout the university s campuses across the country to promote peace respect for persons and the environment amongst all citizens the vicechancellor used the opportunity to encourage everyone to continue to spread positivity love and respect the symbolic creation of the peace garden serves as a testament of what can be done when people work together in peace love respect and harmony she noted because of the covid 19 restrictions still in effect only a small number of person s were able to attend the facetoface event the university expects to invite several other groups to place their plants and make their mark in small batches over the course of the next few months resident representative of the un system in guyana who also gave brief remarks applauded the initiative of the university and all the departments which worked together at short notice to restore and create the space she noted the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in sharpeville south africa opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid pass laws in 1960 in 1979 the un general assembly adopted a programme of activities to be undertaken during the second half of the decade for action to combat racism and racial discrimination on that occa sion the general assembly decided that a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination beginning on 21 march would be organized annually in all states since then the apartheid system in south africa has been dismantled racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries which the united nations have built an international framework for fighting racism guided by the international convention on the elimination of racial discrimination the convention is now nearing universal ratification yet still in all regions too many individuals communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma that racism brings pace the department of maintenance and grounds faculty of education and humanities specifically the art department came in for high praises for adding ceramics and paintings done by students to the collection in the peace garden guided by renowned guyanese sculptor and awardee of the the anthony n sabga caribbean awards for excellence winslow craig aa textile sculptures done by student also flanked the walls of the vice chancellery adding to the beautification spearheaded by guyanese international storyteller and artist michael khan aka ole man pappie dean of the faculty of education and humanities dr roslin khan applauded the efforts of the university and the level of creativity that was put into the peace garden noting that the faculty was honored to participate in the initiative the art department responded immediately and willingly to the day s event providing the work of students to enhance the peaceful environment which reflected the influence of guyanese culture through the work of amerindian east indian african chinese and portuguese the peace garden is an initiative led by pace in the office the vicechancellor of the university of guyana contact   jainarine deonauth ma public relations unit 6235104 department of events conferences and communications decc    ug in brief the university of guyana is the 58th year state university of guyana it offers 136 programmes in over 60 disciplines online and facetoface in 8 campuses across guyana with a student population of now 10000 ug has provided education learning and research for over 50000 alumni the mission of the university is to discover generate disseminate and apply knowledge of the highest standard for the service of the community the nation and of all mankind within an atmosphere of academic freedom that allows for free and critical inquiry ug s forward thinking blueprint 2040 is currently setting the course for the university s future design and institutional response to the changing needs of guyana in strength and beauty grow ugun create peace garden at turkeyen campus  