With Guyana’s development profile reflecting the need to place greater emphasis on a skills development regimen that places more emphasis on targeting the critical needs of the country the privately-owned Pro Care Therapy and Wellness Centre ‘processed’ its first cohort of graduates, presenting them with Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) certificates that will now allow them to apply their skills in Therapeutic Massage Therapy in support of the country’s mainstream Health and Wellness sector.
It is no secret lifestyle changes in society driven by social and economic transformations have resulted in the need to offer a broader swathe of health and wellness options. Here in Guyana, with increasing numbers of people accepting the virtues of a holistic health and wellness regime, disciplines like Massage Therapy have moved steadily into the national limelight. Perhaps more to the point, socio-economic transformations in the Guyanese society have enhanced the demand for ‘treatments’ that include Therapeutic Massage and, unsurprisingly, it is the private sector that is responding more vigorously to this entrepreneurial opening. It is out of this set of circumstances that the privately-run Pro-Care Therapy and Wellness Centre was born.
Candace Wickham, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pro-Care Therapy and Wellness Centre is not unmindful of the considerable growth potential of an organization that is becoming increasingly responsive to the socio-economic transformations that are occurring in Guyana. That said, she believes that her best chance of success in a sector that thrives on high standards is to ‘shape’ its orientation to attract the requisite credentials. Accordingly, having established links with the Council for Technical Vocational Education Training (CVET), the Pro Care Therapy and Wellness Center (situated at 180-181 Sunflower Circle, South Ruimveldt Gardens) staged a graduation ceremony during which it afforded its first group of graduates the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), their having completed a Therapeutic Massage Therapy, a CVQ bestowed qualification.
Wickham believes that in a country that is in the process of significantly accelerated socio-economic transformation, health and wellness has, increasingly, become ranked among its most critical needs and the persons in search of such services would wish to be reassured by the credentials of the institution providing the service. At the December graduation ceremony at Herdmanston Lodge there was no evading the sense of pride which she exuded over being at the helm of such a noteworthy accomplishment.
Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ’s) are based on what is described as a competency-based approach to training, assessment and certification. Participants in such courses are expected to demonstrate competence in attaining occupational standards developed by practitioners, industry experts and employers. Those standards when approved by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) enhance graduates chances of securing jobs in some sectors, allowing the search for jobs to extend across the Caribbean. Unmistakably proud of having realized this accomplishment Wickam says that she is “beyond words,” proud to see the first cohort of CVQ trained Massage Therapists graduating from the Centre.
Wickam told the Stabroek Business it was a “long journey… filled with expected and unexpected challenges,” even as she sought to train her students and have them certified by the Ministry of Education’s Council of Technical Vocational Education Training (CTVET). During her engagement with the Stabroek Business she ‘boasted’ that the graduates received the highest quality of training that will make them competitive, and become successful entrepreneurs. The certification, she told the Stabroek Business will open doors to employment both in Guyana, the wider region and further afield. Wickham told the Stabroek Business that the nine-month competency-based training experience delivered a curriculum that went beyond technical skills. The course embraced areas that include the power of empathy, healing, touch, the anatomy and physiology of the human body, the various modalities of massage, and the therapeutic benefits of how the body works. They were tested on the knowledge, skills, and understanding of what they were taught during the nine (9) months.
The participants worked with trained facilitators, assessors, and internal verifiers. Wickam told the Stabroek Business that the Centre seeks to offer crucial hands-on experience that will help the students to transition from the classroom, in effect, preparing them for employment as Massage Therapists. The training also opens the door to potentially gainful employment in the private sector. In order to provide a measure of post-graduation experience for her students, Ms. Wickam affords them a measure of support by providing them with employment opportunities at the Centre. The initiative, she says, provides ‘breathing space’ within which to afford her former students the opportunity to build their own client bases. For her own part, Ms. Wickham continues to use her skills to develop a curriculum through which to provide opportunity to train persons with disabilities. Currently a young hearing-impaired woman is benefitting from a ‘full scholarship’ at the facility to train as a Massage Therapist.
