THE Saint Francis Community Developers (SFCD), one of the better internationally recognised Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Guyana will be executing over $400,000,000 in projects this year.

The announcement was made by SFCD President, Alex Foster at the NGO’s headquarters in Portuguese Quarters, East Berbice Corentyne last week.

According to Foster, the availability of this enormous amount of funding was made possible through collaboration with numerous agencies and organisations.
As a result, a total of 21 projects received the green-light that will see a wide cross-section of mostly Berbicians benefiting from numerous new services and facilities, in addition to those already offered by the organisation.

The charitable organisation currently offers empowerment opportunities in life and skills training activity, educational empowerment, career development, job preparation, micro credit, collaboration and representation with several social service providers and the development of community projects, while supporting small business developments.

According to Foster, his NGO has been partnering with Food for the Poor (FFTP) for the past 25 years, pointing out that through FFTP Project Department; they were able to distribute 302 combination desk and chairs thus far this year.

In addition, some 125 writing desks, 125 cupboards and 80 bookshelves
were distributed to various schools and organisations, including the Felix Austin
Training College, the GuySuCo Training Centre, the New Amsterdam Traffic
Department of the Guyana Police Force and the Corriverton Amerindian
Student Hostel.

The hostel was fully furnished by the FFTP and SFCD to ensure
approximately 45 new students from the interior are comfortable for
the next five years as they receive their education on the Corentyne Coast.

In addition, three houses were handed over to three families from Rose Hall Town, Williamsburg and Port Mourant as part of the FFTP housing project that aids needy families in building and furnishing a house for them.

NEW COMMUNITY
Among the major projects this year is the establishment of a 50-family community/village where needy families will be taken from various communities in Region Six and placed in a controlled environment, with the necessary facilities for their moral, social and economic upliftment.

Foster noted that the NGO is already in discussion with the Lands and Surveys Department to identify a suitable area to establish the community.

“Working in collaboration with the commissioner of Lands and Survey, Mr
Trevor Benn and his team,  St. Francis is trying to secure houselots for 50 houses, an agriculture plot will also be a part of the area so that Food for the Poor can continue to do its magic by setting up kitchen gardens, green houses and shade houses, also a recreational space for recreational activities, since these 50 families will be uprooted from different communities in the region to form a new
community and FFTP and St Francis believe they should be able to enjoy recreational activities and a community centre.”

Foster noted that instead of simply building a house and leaving the occupants to fend for themselves, SFCD and FFTP will work to empower the families by identifying their needs and putting systems in place to allow them to meet those needs, instead simply giving them handouts.

In this regard, he called on those present to help identify needy families and make contact with SFCD so that they can assess the conditions and offer assistance.
He cautioned that while everyone would want to have a house built for them, the idea is to help those who are in extreme circumstances, first.

The SFCD 10-acre compound will also see some major infrastructural
works being undertaken, much to the benefit of residents near and far.

Chief among the works is the establishment of the first multi-million
dollar tilapia nursery in Region Six that has the capacity to produce
10,000 fingerlings every eight weeks.

This project is being undertaken by SFCD in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, FFTP and Oldendorf Carriers.
The collaborative effort will see facilities setup at Limlair Village, New
Amsterdam and the SFCD headquarters respectively.

According to Foster, the ponds have already been dug and the first batch of 10,000 fingerlings to stock the ponds should be ready within eight weeks,
since the feed has already arrived.

SFCD has also approached the prisons, GuySuCo Training Centre and the Felix Austin Training Centre to establish tilapia ponds to complement their agricultural programmes.

FURNITURE WORKSHOP
SFCD has also received funding from a donor to commence construction of a two- story building in their compound that will house a furniture training workshop on the ground floor and a processing facility on the upper flat.

According to Foster, the equipment for furniture the workshop has already been sourced and is awaiting the completion of the building to be installed. This furniture workshop is meant to provide training and ultimately employment for students who will be taught the art of honing their joinery skills to produce international quality furniture.

Foster noted that President Granger on a visit had promised to purchase furniture to stock Government offices if he can produce them to international standards.

In speaking of the processing facility, he stated that this facility is meant to complement the various farms, greenhouses and shade houses that the NGO has established for the less fortunate across the region.

“In the next two months’ time, we will start construction of a two-storied building. That two-story building will be housed on the upper flat as a preservation centre. That will ensure that the surplus produce coming from our farms across the region will be able process so there will be no wastage. So St Francis therefore by October of 2017, will have the ability to produce ketchup, dry seasoning, pickles, pepper, casreep, cassava bread, baby feed and anything else that we can produce because of the things we are producing at the farm.”

The SFCD, in collaboration with the Government through the Social Protection Ministry, was able to successfully complete 10 shade houses in various communities in Region Six. It is expected that within six weeks, families will be reaping the benefits from all 10 shade houses as their produces are expected to be ready for harvesting.

Foster was high in praise for the Government since this is the first time it has worked on a project with Government.

In addition, SFCD will construct a career centre at its headquarters. The building will have three sections. One section will house the Inland Fishing /Greenhouse/shade house developmental centre, which will serve as a resource centre, in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry.

The second section will house an IT centre that will put to use 26 computers that were donated by Metro Office and Computer supplies. The third section will house and host the organisation’s marching band and musical instruments, which is being utilised to teach music.

Foster stated that the creation of a resource centre will complement
the service offered.

“St Francis will be creating a resource centre so residents within this region and further afield can benefit. We can share our resources and expertise so that we can be able to offer all collaborating partners and all the other regions technical support from a professional environment. This will aid in practical demonstration and practical teachings, knowing that most of target group, the at-risk population, is not educationally inclined or their educational background is not what we would like it to be. So we believe that practical teaching will be the foundation of our transfer of knowledge. Also, also we will be able to document our successes – the methodology involved so that we can successfully aid in replication.”
To further enhance its services, SFCD will upgrade its economic venture centre located at the second building in Chandisingh School Street. This upgrade will see the re-opening of their stationery shop, copying centre and create a place where they can market the finished products coming from the Skills Training Centre.

NEW CHAPTERS
This year, SFCD will also be launching two new chapters in honour of their 31st anniversary — The St Francis Consultancy Service and St. Francis International.

“St Francis will be officially launching, in honour of our 31st anniversary, [the] St Francis Consultancy Services and Community Development, as we will become specialised in offering our services to Guyana, Caribbean and further afield in community development, utilising 30 years’ experience after winning five international awards and all the necessary recognition that we can have here locally. It is time we cash in and make our track record a source of income to generate funds to support our grassroots developmental activities. This is to ensure that we maintain our status since the year 2000. I am proud to say that St Francis is the only organisation in this country which can fully self-sustain. Donor funds go to the beneficiaries.”

The NGO in its 31st year is planning to have a seven-member team visit
three states in the United States to launch the Saint Francis International.
According to Foster, the visit was initially planned for last year; however, it was rescheduled to this year and will see the executives of SFCD visit Miami, Atlanta, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia to officially launch their international chapter which was registered two years ago.  This international launch will further propel SFCD to a level of their own which would resonate well with their donors.

Other project slated for 2017 includes the expansion of SFCD Japanese Hall, USAIDS (Protrack) youth empowerment project in agriculture, USAIDS (YESS Project) youth empowerment and the launch of the first early childhood development training centre in Guyana.

SFCD was established in 1986 and is among the most decorated and
recognised NGOs in Guyana and the Caribbean.