THE Rotary Club of Stabroek last Saurday graduated a class of all women joiners from the communities of Bagotsville, La Grange and Nismes, at a ceremony at the Bagotsville Community Centre.

The ceremony signalled the close of a successful vocational and life skills training project implemented by the club, with support from Canada’s Department for Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The project emanated out of a survey the club conducted in 2011 to determine the factors of underperformance of children from one of its on-going literacy projects in Bagotsville. The survey found parents were unable to provide the requisite support to their children because they were consumed with their own personal challenges, which include providing for their children.
At the ceremony, President of the Stabroek Rotary Club, Luana Falconer, explained that the project sought to equip unemployed parents with skills over a four-month period in sewing, fabric designing and joinery, as well as complementary life skills and etiquette training. In her address, she expressed disappointment that no males registered for the programme, but added the initiative was one that empowered the 50 female participants and she encouraged them to utilise their new skills in shaping their future.
Early on in the programme, the club realised the training would need to be accompanied by a substantial period of time dedicated to life skills training, not just workplace (joinery, sewing) training. As a result, the programme provided participants with opportunities to address their own personal challenges of abuse, poverty, and dependency on others, and the women worked together to address these challenges that many of them shared.
The club closely monitored the activities to ensure that each apprentice received appropriate mentoring and work experience. A crucial support structure of the project was its flexibility in regard to the women’s availability for training, as most of them needed time to attend to family obligations.
Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Labour Human Services and Social Security (MLHSSS), Reverend Patrick Findlay, addressed the participants and challenged them not to sit on their knowledge, and to make use of job placement programmes and the Women of Worth micro credit scheme, both of which fall under his Ministry.
Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, David Devine, congratulated all the participants, but singled out “…single parents who made the effort to go further and do better. You are truly giving your children the best example as well as a chance for their own future success in life.” The Canadian diplomat also challenged the women to use their skills to “rise above unproductivity.”
Some of the participants at the ceremony attested that the training offered them a chance for a better future. Nalini Dowlat shared, “Learning to sew and attending the etiquette and counselling sessions have enabled me to build my self-confidence.” whilst Tekla Douglas opined, “…attending the joinery classes has empowered me to open my joinery shop.”
Bagotsville Neighbourhood Democratic Chairman, Mr. Isaac Bhagwandin, expressed gratitude for the club’s intervention, and opined that the future partnership with Stabroek Rotary can only result in continued community development.
The programme was initially designed to help disadvantaged parents, but turned out to be one where an all-woman group is now equipped to earn a living wage, one that would enable them to bring dignity, not mere subsistence, to their lives and those of their dependants.
The choice of joinery by some women is an indication that women should be afforded equal opportunity in trades training. These women will serve as role models to other women and as an innovative example of how to increase the representation of women in trades and occupations. They are contributing to an environment where women can reinvent themselves and their lives, and this is a significant achievement, worthy of replication in similar settings.