|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Closing Ceremony of OAS Sponsored Project “Creating Livelihoods for Women Made Redundant by the Closure of the Sugar Industry”
By Joy Mills-Ward
Business Reporter-SKNVibes.com
 |
| Head Table L-R>Mrs Ingrid Charles-Gumbs Director, Department of Gender Affairs; Hon. Sam Condor Minister of Social & Community Development and Gender Affairs; Mr Ian Liburd Permanent Secretary , Ministry of Social & Community Development and Gender Affairs and Mr Starret Greene OAS Representative for St Kitts & Nevis. |
Basseterre, St. Kitts: On Thursday 24th January 2008, Lodge Community Center, St Kitts; held a ceremony to mark the closing of the OAS Sponsored Project entitled “ Creating Livelihoods for Women Made Redundant by the Closure of the Sugar Industry”, the graduands, representatives from Ministry of Social & Community Development and Gender Affairs and the Organization of American states celebrated their achievements.
Ingrid Charles Gumbs – Director of the Department of Gender Affairs in the Ministry of Social & Community Development & Gender Affairs chaired the proceedings and gave brief welcome and introductory remarks.
Sheila Harris, the Project Consultant, in addressing the gathering gave an overview of Project’s structure and identified some of the tools the women learnt to utilise during the training sessions.
The project sought to teach the women enrolled, skills in fields which were not traditionally female specifically Upholstery and Tiling, and also to expose them to some entrepreneurial and business management training.
Nineteen women graduated and some were able to attend both classes (Upholstery and Tiling). The Upholstery classes were facilitated by Don Farrell, at the premises of Farrell’s Canvas in New Road. ~~Adz:Right~~
Eleven ladies signed up for this training; classes were split into two time periods and held daily; 5 ladies attended class between 8am and 1pm and the other 6 attended between 1pm and 5 pm. Upholstery classes ran from August 20th to September 29th 2007.
The Tiling classes were facilitated by Calvin Percival alias ‘Poun’. This program ran from 12th November to 12th December 2007 and eight persons signed up for the Tiling classes. These classes ran from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. three days per week. The Lodge Community Center was used to test the skills of the attendees and it is now superbly tiled by the graduates of the Tiling class.
Both classes were exposed to a one week seminar on Life Skills which included Money Management, Small Business and Personal Development skills. Facilitators for this segment were Gloria Mills and June James of the Non-Formal Youth Skills Program; Sam Franks and Phillip Browne of the St. Kitts & Nevis Development Bank.
Starret Greene, OAS representative in St Kitts & Nevis made brief remarks as well in which he pointed out the different benefits he foresaw and the other factors which motivated him to seek funding for a project of this type (besides the fact of course that his own father had been made redundant by the closure of the sugar industry years ago in Antigua).
Testimonials were given by one facilitator and one student after which certificates and thank you tokens to the Facilitators were handed over by Ian “Patches” Liburd Permanent Secretary in Social & Community Development & Gender Affairs.
Following the closure of the proceedings, the gathering was exposed to some of the handiwork of the graduands which were on display:- chairs, ottomans, cushions, and bags made by the Upholstery classes and the floor itself was tiled by the Tiling Class.
Also graduating but not present to receive certificates were:- Elnora Flanders, Camelita Bye, Caroline Mulraine, Christine Richards, Sheila Woodley, and Jennifer Archibald.
 |
 |
 |
|
Tiling Graduates: L-R>Diomary Candibouo, Annette France, Ruth Benjamin, Elrona Williams, Damalie Davis, Eldora Carty; Front Row Seated R-L>Annette Hodge, Diane McSheene
|
Chairs upholstered by the graduating class |
Upholstery Graduates:L-R>Idetha Edmeade, Josephine Wilkins, Ruth Benjamin, Alsha Daniel, Robertha Rawlins, Damalie Davis, Carmen Fyfield; Front Row Seated R-L>Eldora Carty, Annette Hodge and Alsha’s daughter. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
