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| Weaving workshop facilitator Ms Bernadette Francis (R) demonstrates the use of the loom to participants at the Nevis Craft House. |
CHARLESTOWN NEVIS ( April 25, 2006) -- Participants at a two week Weaving workshop which commenced at the Nevis Craft House at Pinneys Industrial Site on Monday April 24, were urged to use the skill of weaving they would acquire for their personal development wisely.
The workshop, an initiative of the Small Business Unit of the Ministry of Youth, Sports Community Affairs, Trade and Industry, is being facilitated by Ms Bernadette Francis through the Caribbean Development Bank.
" After this workshop I expect all of you to find some time to practise this skill so that you can become competent at it...learn as much as you can, become as proficient as you can. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, make it productive," Ms Jacqueline Brookes Acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Community Affairs, Trade and Industry said, while she delivered brief remarks at a ceremony to mark the workshop's commencement.
According to Ms Brookes, weaving had been dormant at the Craft House since the loom had broken down. Notwithstanding, at the insistence of Junior Minister Mr Laughton Brandy, a new loom was purchased to reinstate weaving.
She also explained that the Ministry had offered the programme to staff at the Craft House as part of its ongoing thrust to provide meaningful programmes of development for the youth through sporting, social and community based activities, with training that inspired excellence and fostered future trade and industry and growth in an environment of global technological changes.
The Ministry has done this, through our Easter and Summer Camps, through our Community Education Programme, through our Job Skills and Job Attachment Programmes and through our Small Enterprise Development Unit.
"The Ministry has tried to ensure that our young people gain skills that they could use in their spare time for setting up businesses or for their own personal income. The Department of Community Education and the Small Enterprise Unit, has done quite a bit in ensuring that people learn skills and today we are here to see the start of another such activity," she said.
Ms Brookes told the students that although they would be working with the bone of the coconut branches during the two week exercise the skill could be transferred for use with other materials "the imagination is all it takes to get going, so learn the skill and put your imagination to work. Get creative," she said.
Ms Francis, who had been involved in weaving for the past 29 years, told the participants that they would do some comprehensive work regarding the construction of products with the use of coconut bone and Sea Island Cotton thread and about the terminology used in weaving and also parts of the loom.
At the conclusion of the workshop, according to the facilitator, the participants would have a better understanding of weaving and all it entailed and "how by putting two sets of fibres together they could come up with a beautiful product. Another thing they will learn is how to appreciate their hands and how to appreciate their minds and what can come out of it," Ms Francis said.
Mrs Deborah Tyrell Head of the Small Enterprise Unit gave brief remarks while Mr Othniel Daly Community Affairs Officer, delivered a prayer.
