IN the quest for success in life, many fail to recognise the poor and the down-trodden, but they are others who make it their duty to help those who really need help.
They are driven by the mantra ‘we aspire to make a positive difference in society’, ‘our goal is to change lives’ and ‘society will be a far better place if all is given to opportunity, regardless of their ability and social standing, to develop and thrive’.
This has been the driving force behind the Roadside Baptist Church and the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre, located at Lot 161 and 168 Number 8 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The church and the centre seeks to improve the quality of life of residents by creating opportunities for youths, men and women and the elderly, to build life and job skills through the provision of quality adult education, skills training and social services.
The Roadside Baptist Church and Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre though separate entities, they function in tandem: the church established in 1976 provides a vision for positive change and the centre birthed in 1995 executes that the vision.
But though birthed out of the humble teaching of the Bible, the skills training centre has adopted a board focus, and this includes the employment of persons of other religions and the provision of services to all regardless of their religion.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre Yetrawatee Katryan told the Chronicle that the entity is about making a meaningful difference in people’s lives and anyone with a heart and the will is a friend of the centre.
TARGETING THE VULNERABLE
The centre focuses on providing poor and at-risk youth, single parent mothers and school dropout with skills in a variety of areas to make them employable or start their own businesses.
These programmes include garment making, Information Technology, cosmetology, cake decoration, floral arrangement, HIV Prevention and Awareness Counseling and lessons in English and Mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations.
Katryan related that all the training programmes includes a component of entrepreneurship, pointing out that the goal is to empower the poor, providing them the means to climb out of poverty and enjoy comfortable lives.
Every year more than 100 vulnerable persons graduate from the training centre equipped with a skill of their choice; the vast majority have gone on to improve their own standard of living.
Those who did not establish their own businesses have gained employment at banks, GuySuCo and other state and private institutions while some have chosen to further their studies at the University of Guyana.
The Skills Training Centre works closely with the Board of Industrial Training (BIT). The BIT also provides skills training in host of areas including masonry and carpentry. Last year, some 77 persons graduated from the BIT programme which was offered through the Roadside Baptist Training Centre.
Katryan told this publication that the centre caters for persons from Orealla to Rose Hall but also accommodates those from as far as New Amsterdam.
She said since the training centre was established in 1995, it has played a useful role in reducing poverty in the area it covers and has opened doors of opportunities for thousands.
Many of the many hundreds of vulnerable persons who have passed through the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre have been provided an alternative to crime and answers to help them get out of poverty.
VISHNU SAHADEO HARRACK
The success stories are many, and all cannot be told in a news article. However, among the lot, the story of Vishnu Sahadeo Harrack stands out. Harrack, a poor child of a single parent family did not get an opportunity to attend high school due to the impoverish state of his family.
He took courses in cake decoration, floral arrangement, HIV Prevention Awareness Counseling among a series of others programmes. Today, Harrack is the most sought after for his skills in cake decoration and floral arrangement on the Corentyne.
This aside, Harrack is employed at a non-governmental organisation SACT, which provides counseling for vulnerable children and on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.
The young man is grateful to the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre for equipping him with the skills and strong values, pointing out that these have enabled him to leap out of abject poverty.
The life of Shimoon Khan has also been transformed. Khan, who is from a poor family did garment making at the training centre and is now one of the better known fashion designer on the Corentyne.
OWN HOME
A single parent, the young Khan has many busy days trying to fulfill the orders of her many customers. Recently, she has built her own home.
The training centre also offers a full-time library service, and also provides counseling and support to victims of domestic violence. In addition, it provides hot meals for the elderly once per mouth. These include accompanying victims to the police stations and hospitals.
In the past, the centre used to receiving funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US and Japanese Embassies and other donors.
Today, it is still receives funding from the US but a sizable portion of the sum to keeping the entity going comes for a document centre, cost recovery programmes and a snackett, all managed by the training centre.
In February, the Japanese Embassy pumped US$90,000 into the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre for critical renovation works.
Under the project, the church’s outdoor auditorium was slated for renovation, and a shed destroyed by storm last year to be rebuilt. The money covered repairs to ceiling, walls and furniture in the shed while a portion was allocated for enhancement of services in the information technology laboratory, library and office.
WORK MOVING APACE
The Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre CEO reported that work on the shed has been completed and the repair works are about 80 per cent complete. The remaining work is expected to be completed in July.
Katryan, a mother of one and a retired teacher said she remains grateful to the US Embassy, other donors and her dedicated staff.
The hard work of her staff, she said is not for or about the money but the cause to make a genuine change in the lives of people really in need.
This, she said is the vision of the church and the centre is on a mission to make that vision a reality.
By Tajeram Mohabir