TWENTY-two young men drawn from the South Georgetown area recently completed ten-week training programmes in the fields of joinery and masonry. The training courses were organised by the Albouystown New Hope Community Project.
At a joint graduation and commissioning ceremony held at the Skills Training Complex, Costello House Scheme, the successful young men were presented with their certificates and were then admonished to lead productive lives by putting in to practice the skills they have acquired.
Speaking at the gathering, which included Mr Robert Corbin, Leader of the Opposition and Mr Manzoor Nadir, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, the Chairman of the True Vision Foundation Mr Randolph Thorne said that before undergoing the training, most of the graduands were unemployed young men who had lost hope in life. However, as a result of the process of training, the young men were now empowered to lead productive lives by utilising their new skills to become engaged in economic activities.
Mr Thorne related that during the training sessions, which concluded on October 10, each student benefited from a weekly stipend of $2,500. They were also given free meals on a daily basis. He said that the project was funded by the British government through "a legacy the Albouystown community enjoyed, after the visit of His Royal Highness Prince Charles to the community in February, 2000".
The prime objective of the project is to offer free skills training to unemployed young men and women of South Georgetown, particularly Alboystown. Thorne said special focus will be placed on unemployed young women and early school-leavers, most of whom are victims of unreliable partners, and are locked in a vicious cycle of poverty.
More than 50 such women have already accessed training in the areas of Cosmetology, Sewing, Food and Nutrition. The Complex has already benefited from a presentation of joinery tools from His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo, through the President's Youth Choice Initiative.