Sonja Sampson, a coach and trainer with non-governmental organisation Special-ists in Sustained Youth Development and Research (SSYDR Inc.), is going to be the latest local beneficiary of the Global Women in Management (GWIM) training programme.
Sampson, according to a release issued on Friday by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), will be the eighth Guyanese woman to have participated in the GWIM training programme since 2013.
The ExxonMobil Foundation has funded the programme, which is designed to strengthen women’s management, leadership, and technical skills to enhance and bring-to-scale programmes that advance women’s economic opportunities and build the next generation of women business leaders and entrepreneurs. The candidates must be working in a local organisation focused on women’s economic empowerment.
“I feel honoured and excited to be able to represent the women of Guyana,” Sampson, who is set to begin training in October, was quoted as saying in the release. “I have been working with women and youth for quite some time and this opportunity will help me to gain more skills and knowledge in leadership and management.”
She will be participating in the training online due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
EEPGL noted that some of the Guyanese participants have taken the lessons learned back into their communities across the country. It highlighted the example of Vilma Da Silva, from the Lower Pomeroon in Region Two, who is determined to inspire younger women ensuring that they secure better lives. “Quite often, women are the vulnerable ones who feel less fortunate and depend on male partners for a better life. I am inspiring young women to develop themselves before they think about going into early marriage and child bearing,” she said.
Da Silva, who is a regional councillor and social worker, believes that this approach will contribute to the overall goal of alleviating poverty. She also owns a coconut farm (Henvil Farm) which supplies companies such as Sterling Limited and employs up to 24 persons.
She is one of three women based in rural communities who have benefitted from the training. The others are Yvonne Pearson, who is Vice Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission, and Rowena Williams, a teacher and the chairperson of the Silver Sands Sports Club in Waramuri, Region One.
Magda Griffith-Wills, sociologist and founder of SSYDR Inc., has also participated in GWIM training and has managed to use the experience to augment the work of her organisation. She recalled a programme called “Farming for Hunger,” which inspired her next big project, which aims to rehabilitate young offenders and ensure that they are steered from criminal activity.
“We are in the process of acquiring the land necessary to have that rehabilitative programme geared to persons within the justice system; young persons, it doesn’t matter the crime. We want to be able to help persons to get to that point where they could see and want change then effect that change through agriculture,” Griffith-Wills said.
According to the release, ExxonMobil Foundation has supported the GWIM training for 15 years to focus on providing management training and building local capacity to support women’s economic advancement. More than 900 women in 77 countries have participated since the programme commenced in 2005.
To improve the design and management of participants’ programmes, businesses and institutions, GWIM develops competencies in project management, financial management, leadership, fundraising, institutional sustainability and advocacy.
Renata Chuck-A-Sang, of the Women and Gender Equality Commission, and Goldie Scott, Chief Executive Officer of Volunteer Youth Corps Inc, have also been among the participants of the GWIM workshops.
EEPGL’s Senior Director for Public and Government Affairs Deedra Moe said funding for the training programme is one of several ways that ExxonMobil Guyana demonstrates its commitment to the advancement of the country’s women. According to her, the company has identified women empowerment as one of its focal areas as part of its overall commitment to social and economic progress in Guyana. “We continue to partner with several NGOs… to implement various projects geared at improving the lives of women and empowering the communities where they live,” she added.
These include a project by the Blue Flame Women’s Group to upgrade an existing factory which produces cocoa sticks, coffee and cassava bread in Region One and another by WeLead Caribbean for skills development in the areas of human resources, business, branding and packaging in regions Two and Three.
The release noted that ExxonMobil has also partnered with Cerulean Inc. on a project to enhance the economic development of Mainstay/Whayaka through capacity building in the areas of Hospitality and Tourism and Small Business Development.
