The first batch of twenty-three residents in and around the mining town of Mahdia that started the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ garment construction programme on May 9 graduated on Saturday.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) release, at the graduation the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, who spoke at the ceremony, restated the government’s commitment to empowering persons in the hinterland. “The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs continues to deliver across the hinterland, to ensure that our hinterland youths, no matter where they come from, whether it’s Mahdia, Princeville, Micobie, whether it’s Santa Rosa or Wowetta, Rupertee or even Parabara, they are all having an opportunity that they otherwise may very well have not been able to obtain on their own. We are very pleased as a government, as a ministry to support the young people, the women, the males to engage in meaningful activities, building their capacities, improving their capabilities of doing and making things happen.”
While emphasising that this graduation is just the start of continuous training for hinterland youths, Sukhai charged the graduates with sharing the knowledge gained. “You can go back and you can be able to start your own small sewing establishment. In some villages, there are sewing groups already existing but have become defunct. Your charge is to ensure that you revitalise those groups. Revitalise the sewing centres in your community and use it to the fullest.”
The best graduating student, Edith Williams said, “I learned so many things. This is the moment I was waiting for my entire life. Thank you government for making my dream come true.” And Julie Williams, another graduate who hails from Micobie, said the training has been instrumental in her journey to becoming an entrepreneur. “This programme has bring us so far… Thank you to the government because I learn something, so I can open my own business.”
According to DPI, the area was selected by the ministry for the garment construction programme since there is a dire need for tailors and seamstresses in Region Eight, to meet the demand for school uniforms.
The release also explained that the programme complements the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant, which ensures each school child, from nursery to secondary, receives a grant of $35,000 annually. Together with the $5,000 school uniform grant, every child is receiving $40,000 per year.
