The Guyana Oil Company Limited (GUYOIL) hosted their inaugural summer camp for employees’ children under the theme “You Serve Us, We Serve You”. The camp was an initiative by the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Renatha Exeter who is always looking for creative ways to give back to employees and customers. Ms. Exeter said “The vision for this camp came from a place of genuine interest for our employees. School is out and daily parents have to work and at the same time figure out ways to keep their children engaged, safe and well taken care of. For me, it was about serving them and taking off some of the burden although in a small way.”

The camp was open to children between the ages of five and twelve and was held in the conference room of the Kitty Service Station on the 8^th – 9^th August, from 9am- 2 pm.

The children were treated to story time, games and face painting by puppeteer/ professional clown Mr. Michael Khan, also known as Old Man Papi and his team. The story time allowed the children to learn about Guyanese folk-lores while the games allowed them to be involved in friendly competition. The face painting and bonus balloon creations were the highlights of day one of the camp.

On day two, the children were taught the basics of good nutrition by Nutritionist Mrs. Leveyah Yisrael. This allowed the children to better understand their role in their own nutrition and how to make better snack choices when they return to school. Additionally the children were shown two movies with complete movie settings.

The children were provided with snacks, lunch, beverages and tokens when they participated in games. Additionally every child was provided with stationery for school.

Guyoil intends to make the summer camp programme an annual event. One employee Ms Stacy Williams, stated, “I’m happy for this summer camp; my children were happy they attended and had fun.”

The summer camp allowed Guyoil to give back to their hardworking employees by catering to their children. Mr. Ewan Obermuller, a Diamond Service Station employee, said, “It was a good initiative and my children came home happy, I was pleased.”

As a company Guyoil recognizes the value of human resources and the importance of showing appreciation to them. The company will continually strive to show appreciation for their employees and offer Excellence in Service.