AS PART of its silver jubilee celebrations, the Corentyne-based NGO, the St. Francis Community Developers (SFCD), commissioned two multi-million-dollar projects on its ten-acre complex Thursday. The projects at reference were the construction of a training centre, through funding from the Government of Japan with support from Food for the Poor Guyana Inc. and a sustainable agriculture and aquaculture model farm through funding from the Government of Australia.
The three-hour event saw in attendance a large turnout of members and supporters of the organization, and comprised greetings from representatives of several international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), representatives of the Australian and Japanese governments, and local entities such as the Guyana Book Foundation, the Administration of Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), and several groups under the name of Friends of SFCD.
Founded and led by President and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)Alex Foster, the SFCD was established in 1986 as the St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Youth Club at Port Mourant, Corentyne in Region Six.
From the time of its founding, the SFCD has rendered continuous and unbroken service to the public, and has grown from strength to strength, attaining internationally accepted standards in community development support over the years, as noted by all those who spoke at the event.
Foster came in for high praise for his dedication, leadership and organizational development skills which saw the survival and growth of the SFCD over the past two-and-a-half decades.
As the man-of-the-moment, Foster spoke on the topic: ‘Twenty-five years of service: If those who reach could touch by making a difference’. That address was followed by remarks from the Honorary Consul to Australia, Mr. Dominic O’Sullivan, and Second Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Koji Fujimura.
During the course of his address, Foster touched a bit on what kept the organization going over the years. “Our longevity and growth (are) due to hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and love for community work by our members. Our longevity is an achievement in itself,” he said.
He also gave a detailed account of how the organization got started.
“We can blow our own trumpet,” he said. “When we started St Francis, we wanted one library. Today, we are responsible for scores of libraries across this country. We wanted one playfield. The last set of playfields we did was 10 with UNICEF in Region Six alone. We started with 12 volunteers; we are now having over 750 registered volunteers working with us across Regions Five and Six, with 152 persons working out of sixteen fulltime offices in Regions Five and Six. And at the Head Office, sixteen dedicated staff work on a daily basis to coordinate our activities.
“When we started, we just wanted one little play area for children to play. Today, we’ve constructed and created over 65 children-friendly spaces, and have also trained people who deliver the services to the children at risk. We have opened ten pre-schools across Region Six, and out of the ten, four of them have met the minimum standards stipulated by UNICEF, the University of Guyana (UG) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) for these types of institutions.”
He seized the opportunity to thank all those who helped the organization achieve its ambitious goals over the years besides its many friends and supporters, such as the Government of Guyana, the support of which helped make the silver jubilee possible.
He concluded by pledging that he and his members would continue to live up to the St. Francis Motto: “What I am, is God’s gift to me; and what I make of my gift is my gift to God,” in their endeavour to empower the poor and underprivileged for the next twenty-five years.
O’Sullivan commended the group on the quality of its project proposal, which is what led to it being approved for funding by the Australian Government through its Direct Aid Programme (DAP).
The Australian grant will be used to develop an orchard of 300 fruit trees, and the startup of an aquaculture farm with some 4000 tilapias, which should be ready for harvest by February 2012.
Japan’s Mr. Fujimura, meanwhile, said the Japanese grant for construction of the training centre was to the tune of US$137,597 through the government’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Development (GGP).
Noting his immense pleasure at being associated with the St Francis grouping, Fujimura pledged his government’s commitment to supporting the poor and underprivileged. He also extended best wishes for the successful execution of the project.
It was learnt that Food for the Poor Guyana Inc’s role in the construction of the training centre would be the stocking of it.
A highlight of the day’s proceedings was the giving of recognition to three St Francis members who were granted scholarships by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to study Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the University of Guyana.
The three, Sonja Sampson, Zaeer Ali and Jacqueline Johnson-Cummings, were among thirty persons on the programme, and they all graduated with distinction among the top five.
Sampson emerged the top graduating student on the programme, while Ali and Johnson-Cummings were first and second runners-up respectively.
Foster had earlier disclosed that last year, UNICEF had asked the SFCD to identify one member to enter the university programme, but he had insisted on more places, and had been granted three. He said the excellent results obtained by the SFCD boded well for the continued existence and growth of the organization from the first year.

To loud applause, he added that the trio had been guaranteed continued sponsorship by UNICEF up to the level of a Masters degree in Early Childhood Development.