Ninety-eight youths and 19 facilitators of the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) in Region 10 were the first to receive their month stipends last Thursday.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, the youth and their facilitators originate from six villages in the region and are the first group of participants to have received their monthly stipend since the programme was launched a year ago in Paramakatoi, Region 8.
Present for the distribution was Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe who had travelled to the region to partake in the recently concluded Heritage Month activities.
While there, the Junior Minister met youths and facilitators from Hururu, Wikki/Calkuni and Wiruni in Hururu, Region 10; the delivery of stipends was met with positive responses from the HEYS participants, the statement said.
Further, the statement noted that while there were some challenges, which Garrido-Lowe described as “teething problems,” the participants are now able to reap their benefits.
She also took the opportunity to remind the participants of the programmes objective, which, in this case is to prepare Indigenous youths for the world of work and even complemented the youth for their dedication to the programme.
“…You are supposed to attend classes half day but many of you choose to go through the entire day, I’m so happy to see that… It is a joy to see something working and you the youths helping yourselves and I am satisfied and your government has committed to ensuring that the high unemployment rate in the hinterland area is significantly reduced,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, Selena Thomas, a HEYS participant from Wikki/Calkuni said that the distribution of stipend came at an opportune time for her as her village was hosting Heritage celebrations at that time.
Commenting on her experience as a participant of the programme thus far, Thomas said, “so far so great I cannot complain, we’ve been enjoying ourselves we’ve been learning so much and our teachers encourage us to apply it to our everyday life and what we don’t know the door is always opened so we can find out what’s going on so the training is a plus for each and every youth in this community I’m just sorry that it can’t be opened to more.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Ryan Vanlewin, another participant of the programme as he spoke of the knowledge he has since gained from the skill training he continues to receive and which will also afford him financial benefits in the long term.
The minister and her team also used the visit to present three villages with a number of tools for the agricultural aspect of the youth program.
Among the tools handed over by Garrido-Lowe were forks, cutlasses, garden spades, water hose and fittings, shovels, pruning clippers and wheel barrows, the statement said.
HEYS is said to have replaced the controversial Youth Entrepreneurial Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) and seeks to stimulate economic impetus, personal and professional development amongst youth who may be disadvantaged due to geophysical challenges beyond their control.
Launched last year, the programme was used a pilot project in six communities in Region 8 and has since been extended to a total of 106 Indigenous villages across the country over the past months.
At present, the programme is said to have just under 2,000 youths participating countrywide and seeks to engage youth in six core courses namely capacity building, life skill, entrepreneurship, Eco-Tourism, agriculture and concentrated language experience.
Participants are also given the option to choose their desired vocational skills which include but are not limited to carpentry/joinery, garment construction, cake decorating/catering, electrical installation, auto-mechanics, masonry, massage therapy and information technology.
The distribution of stipends to participants and facilitators of the HEYS programme in other regions are expected to continue in the coming days.
