The New Year comes with new technology for the staff of the St Francis Community Developers (SFCD) in the form of a state-of-the-art identification printing device, projector and iPads, thanks to Sahaboob Yassin of the United States.
The overseas-based Guyanese handed over the printer, complete with accessories and the overhead projector to president of the SFCD, Alex Foster, at his Rose Hall office on Thursday. Prior to that Yassin had also presented the staff with 10 Apple iPads as well as a “mini iPad that was just released.”
He told Stabroek News that he thought of donating the items because he was aware that “St Francis was doing so much for the community”.
He said he had asked Foster to “come up with a proposal; tell me what you need for your organisation.”
But Yassin said that before Foster could have responded he thought first of giving the iPads because he knew “they would help tremendously with the training he is doing here at the facility.”
He was referring to the $40.3 million training facility that the SFCD recently launched. The facility was made possible through the Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP) to aid in the reduction of poverty.
The top flat of the building which is for multi-purpose activities and training can accommodate over 250 persons.
The bottom would house six offices including for consultancy, document centre and an impressive conference centre. Food for the Poor (FFTP) also helped to make the project possible.
The SFCD is in the process of establishing a project referred to as ‘The Village’, consisting of 18 structures on a 10-acre plot of land. Two of the buildings have been completed, Foster said, one “with the blessings of the German Embassy,” the third, a guesthouse is expected to be completed by February.
Meanwhile, Yassin said he had an interest in helping the SFCD because of his involvement with many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the UN Association in Guyana—where he first met Foster—and the Youth Coalition for Transformation and was also “pitching in for the people of Linden”.
In the area of sport, he is helping the Transport Cricket Club. He also took up a challenge by Minister of Sport, Dr Frank Anthony to do something for his former community. He will start off by developing the sport facility at Sisters
Village, East Bank Berbice and providing sport equipment by the end of this month.
Foster expressed gratitude to Yassin for the devices and said he was “certain that 2013 would bear fruit because we would be utilising the items to the fullest.”
He said that with the devices now available, money that was spent to order badges “can be used towards upgrading our services and offering better services to our beneficiaries.”
RESCUE
According to Foster, the SFCD has “embarked on a new project – RESCUE (Reforming Education Skills & Capacity for Ultimate Empowerment) – and I believe that by training people we would empower them for the future.”
He said his organisation recently collaborated with Banks DIH and Bermudez for its “community dialogues” that would bring the residents to work together.
Foster is optimistic about bringing television personality Oprah Winfrey to visit his projects and said the “community dialogue is one step in the way of getting the community actively participating in our activities.”
He said since the launching of the training facility, the building has been fully utilised by the Regional Democratic Council of Region Six and the Department of Education, the Guyana Police Force, among others.
It was also used by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for its 30-day ‘Work Readiness Training’.
Demerara Bank has so far employed one of the trainees while the prison, police force, fire service and GuySuCo have indicated their willingness to provide employment to others.
He said a number of persons also visited the facility and were inspired with the work of the SFCD and were planning to replicate it.
He said the presentation of the devices were also important because UNICEF, UNDP, the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), FFTP, the Japanese Government and other donors “would like to run extensive long-term training” for persons throughout the country as well as from the Caribbean.
They would be accommodated at the guesthouse that caters for 60 participants at the bottom-flat and eight tutors in self-contained rooms at the top flat.
In the meantime, Foster said the CYP has recognised and selected him as one of the outstanding persons who has propelled youth work to a new level.
He has been invited to be in “South Africa from March 18 to 25, to be honoured by the Commonwealth Secretariat… I would be able to take all the activities at an international level to 54 countries around the world.”
