A group of young persons who were part of a six-week empowerment course at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice are now geared to “restructure poverty.”
The course was organized by a group of final year Social Work students from the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC).
The UG students were tasked with undertaking a community intervention project and chose the skills training course. It entailed techniques in tie-dying, setting a seed and using recycled materials to create ornaments for the home.
At a simple closing ceremony held on Wednesday, lecturer,
Paulette Henry said it was satisfying to learn that her students were working with a group of young people.
She urged the youth to continue to empower themselves so as to supplement their income and to broaden their knowledge on pricing and marketing their products.
According to Henry, “If a community is to be developed, each person has to be committed to changing.” She noted that while poverty exists, “we can restructure our poverty; we can change it by taking a hand.”
She told the youth too that “social work students are not only classroom students that only do “bookwork” but they have to come out and do practical things to empower people to empower themselves” in order to make a difference.
She encouraged them to share their skills especially with their siblings who are home for the school holidays so they can utilize their time constructively.
One of the students, Javed Ishmael said that “based on interactions,” he along with the other students; Marcion Benjamin, Althea Lynton, Coretta Causway and Tonya Mc Almont decided to teach the skills.
He reminded the youth that instead of disposing of certain materials they can use their skills to make their homes beautiful while cutting costs.
The youth who are attached to the Bath Skills Training Centre, headed by Sandra Baldeo expressed gratitude to the students for sharing their skills.
They said the course was interesting and they benefitted a lot from it, especially with the technique of setting the seed and with Bath Settlement being a farming area.
The UGBC students also presented a sign to the centre after realizing that there was none and they had missed the place on their first visit.
Baldeo was happy for the sign and thanked the students. She also hoped that they can return to teach the youth further.
