REGION One (Barima-Waini) will for the first time have a facility to train persons interested in becoming community health workers, as Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips commissioned a new centre for health training at Central Mabaruma, on Tuesday.
The building is equipped with two furnished classrooms, including one smart classroom, an administrative office space, air conditioning and a furnished sitting area.
The first batch of 58 prospective community health workers will spend the next 14 weeks training at the facility before returning to their respective communities in the region. Prime Minister Phillips encouraged the trainees to take advantage of the opportunities, so that when they return to their communities they could contribute to improving the level of healthcare in the region.

“You have a role to impart knowledge and place your community on a path to good health practices. If you are successful in this, it will mean that there will be less work for the doctors, because everybody will be moving towards practising good health measures, which is a form of preventative medicine and that itself is a success story for a programme like this,” the Prime Minister said. He also encouraged the prospective community health workers to focus on their personal growth and career development. “The next thing you must do after you have graduated this course, is to start and build your career in the health profession… many times, when I address young people, I realise that they are full of enthusiasm but when it comes to focus, they are a bit confused. So, I’m taking this opportunity to ask you to stay focused in your approach to career development,” Prime Minister Phillips said.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who was also present at the opening of the facility, told the trainees that not only will they be required to serve upon returning to their communities, but also that they will be seen as a part of the leadership of the region.
“You will all be required to go back into your community [sic] and serve, and when you go back into your community and serve, you will not only be seen as just a health worker, and that’s the uniqueness of hinterland communities: once you hold certain positions within the village, you are also seen as leaders of those villages. So, you will have villagers who will depend on you and ask or appoint you to represent them and their issues,” Minister Croal said.
Trainee, Rihanna Thomas of Wanaina Village, said that she is pleased that the training opportunity is available in her region, because she will get a chance to be trained in a field she loves.

“I got involved in the training because this is what I love and having a training centre here will ease a lot of expenses for me, because if I were to be further [sic] away from home and my family, I would have to spend more money,” Thomas said.
Another trainee, Timaul Ruffino of Morawhanna Village, said that after leaving school, he had several jobs, but his passion was always healthcare.
“When I left high school, I was in a number of jobs and I kept leaving them because I never found it interesting. I was doing it because of the money and it is a great pleasure for this programme to be introduced into the region, because it is a great development for our health sector,” the trainee said.