By Shirley Thomas

FIRST Lady Mrs Sandra Granger yesterday declared open a four-day workshop she has sponsored on ‘Self Reliance and Success in Business,’ designed to benefit residents of Linden, Christianburg, Kwakwani, and riverine communities on the outskirts of the mining town.

Held at the Christianburg Multilateral School, the workshop was well received, and was a tremendous success. It was delivered by Interweave Solutions, with representative Mr. Wayne Barrow as coach. Participants will be issued Certificates of Participation at the end of the workshop.

The formal launch was held in the school’s auditorium, while the coaching sessions were held in the Information Technology Lab. There was also an impressive exhibition of art, handicraft, condiments, and other items produced by women and girls of the community.

Planned initially for 15 persons, the workshop eventually registered and coached 21 keenly enthusiastic participants from diverse

backgrounds, but all with an interest in self-reliance and success in business. And despite this increase in number, there were many others queueing up outside the doors, expressing an interest in participating in the programme.

The people were all elated at the very thought that, with Mrs. Granger’s intervention, there now seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel to help the young people of Linden and its environs realise their potential and find gainful employment.

However, as promised by Mrs. Granger in her opening remarks, another workshop is to be held in the new year, and will be facilitated

by a core group comprising those who had benefited from the initial training, this time around.

Mrs. Granger expressed gratitude first to Mr. Wayne Barrow of Interweave Solutions–whose brainchild the initiative was– and to all others who were instrumental in making the workshop a reality. She expressed confidence in the facilitators to effectively deliver, and surmised that the participants were equal to the task.

“I think the workshop offers opportunities to the people and to the participants, and I am hoping that they can go back in their communities and help to train people to understand the importance of being self-reliant and having a plan to succeed in business,” Mrs. Granger said.

She saw the workshop as having great potential for collective work that offers structure to people’s ideas. “Also, within the workshops, they can form little communities whereby they could help each other, because I think sometimes people might have ideas but they just need a structure within which to fit it, so they can move forward and progress,” she remarked.

Mrs. Granger said that once participants are open to education, they can learn and progress, ultimately realising benefits for all. Commenting on the programme, she declared, “I am very happy with it, and am looking forward to taking it to other areas of the country.”

While eager that both men and women should be involved in entrepreneurial training, Mrs. Granger expressed confidence that women’s involvement will have a tremendous ripple effect, and will undoubtedly redound to the benefit of the wider community. According to the First Lady, data indicates that once women are educated and trained successfully, they seek the same for their children.

On this note, she said, the families in the community can benefit from the training, adding: “And this is what I know will happen with this kind of workshop and some of my other projects…”

The First Lady said that Mr. Wayne Barrow and his president first approached her with the proposal for holding the workshop, and she immediately saw possibilities opening up, especially for women.

Meanwhile, as a mark of appreciation to the First Lady for her many kind gestures to the people of the community, Christianburg Primary and St. Aidan’s Nursery schools presented her with two floral arrangements. The bouquets were handed over by Ms. Aileen Baxter.

At the beginning of the new school term, the First Lady presented uniforms to more than 120 children whose parents were unable to provide them with new uniforms for the beginning of the Christmas term.