120 graduate from EU-sponsored programme with life skills

Feb 21, 2009 News

Some 120 participants in the five-month Technical Assistance Training Programme sponsored by the European Union (EU)/Low Income Housing Programme (LIHP) graduated yesterday.
The EU/LIHP was launched in 2004 between the Government of Guyana and the EU in Guyana to support the Low Income Housing Sector.
Team Leader of the EU/LIHP, Bernhard Weiss, gave a short overview of the programme, highlighting that the communities of Bell West located at Canal Number 2, WBD; Sophia D and Cummings Lodge C and Y in Greater Georgetown; and Plantation Glasgow in New Amsterdam have benefited from a Skills Training Programme funded by the Community Development component of the LIHP.
He explained that the Project was supervised by the Central Housing and Planning Authority, and was intended to improve access to affordable housing for low-income groups in Guyana, and improving the quality of existing settlements through community participation and support to community initiatives.
According to Weiss, a study completed in May 2007 revealed that among the key issues to be addressed was the need for Skills Training.
To execute such training, a partnership was established. This included institutions such as the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED), Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC), Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE), New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI), Partners for the Americas, Farmer to Farmer Programme and Global Perspective Incorporated.
Team Leader of the Consultant Groups attached to the programme, Audreyanna Thomas, said she was happy to see the programme conclude, saying that it signified that the idea had become a reality.
She added that the programme represented a successful structured partnership, given all of the different organisations that had come together to make it a success.
The courses commenced last October and continued for a period of eight non-consecutive weeks, covering at least nine hours per week. The participants were taught at the various technical institutions and at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, the Cummings Lodge Secondary School and Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA).
The training programme saw the graduates earning a diploma in the different skills which were being taught under the programme. Some pursued sewing, craft, catering, small business management and development, housekeeping, food processing, kitchen gardening, carpentry/joinery and masonry.
Patricia Jones, who secured a diploma in Housekeeping, said that the training programme helped to enhance the participants, and their newly acquired skills would help them to elevate their homes and their communities.
Warren King, who graduated with a diploma in Small Business Management and Development, said that the training programme had given the participants the opportunity to better themselves in so many ways.
“The knowledge of Small Business Management we acquired will help us to better manage our businesses,” he said.
Another graduate, Tracy Bacchus, who graduated with a diploma in Food Processing and Kitchen Gardening, noted that the training had impacted the participants especially in the areas of self-awareness and gender empowerment.
Three of the female participants undertook and graduated with diplomas in Carpentry/Joinery and Masonry. This, according to the Charge d’Affaire of the EU, Manuela Panhiero, was heartening.
She advised the participants that now that they had completed their diplomas they should continue their pursuit of additional knowledge, and so secure a continued sense of accomplishment as well as boost their self-esteem.
Delivering the feature address, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, also commended the female graduates, stressing that women’s empowerment was vital to the development of families, communities and the country.
He added that more men needed to engage themselves in self-development. He noted that most of the graduates from the University of Guyana (UG) were female. “Men need to be more actively involved in their role in the development of society,” said the Minister, stressing that equality meant an equal contribution from both sexes.
The Minister also thanked the EU for the continued support in the housing sector.

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120 graduate from EU-sponsored programme with life skills

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