Latest News

03/10/2005

Press Release

Young Women Being Trained Under USAID Program

WHEN Hurricane Ivan destroyed her home and the vehicle she used in her trade as a food vendor, Marsha Sylvester was heart-broken.

But like scores of other young Grenadian women, the mother of four is today fighting to rebuild her life in the aftermath of the September 7 hurricane that caused widespread destruction in this Eastern Caribbean country thanks to assistance being provided by the US Government, through the US Agency for International Development. The program fall under the Grenada Business and Agriculture Revitalization Project (GBAR.

Ms. Sylvester, who recently completed a sewing class, is among 74 young women who are being trained in sewing, cosmetology or sewing machine repair and maintenance under the Program for Adolescent Mothers (PAM) being managed by the Grenada Save the Children Development Agency (GRENSAVE).

According to Tyrone Buckmire, Manager of PAM, under the training program young women who lost their jobs as a result of Ivan are being given a chance to improve their financial security by being trained in areas where they can find employment or set up their own small businesses from at home.

Noting that the response to the program has been very good, Buckmire added, “for us it is very exciting to be able to offer opportunities for persons to be trained or retrained so that at the end of the day they will be able to find gainful employment.” He explained that the training will be beneficial not only to the young women enrolled in the courses but will also impact on their families.

One trainee looking forward to employing the knowledge acquired under the training initiative to start up her own operation at home, is 20-year-old Rhonda Weekes, who is presently enrolled in the cosmetology course. The former general worker at one of the country's medical facilities said that since she lost her job in the aftermath of the hurricane, she readily grabbed the opportunity to obtain training in hair dressing.

Similarly, Marisa Zopwell, a 20-year-old mother of one whose house was destroyed during the hurricane, said she was looking forward to making the skills she will acquire in the hairdressing course work for her. “I was a telemarketer before Ivan, but since a lot of hairdressers are in my family, I was always interested in this area and I think this course will help a lot,” she added.

Sylvester, whose children range from eight months to 11 years said the stipend trainees receive during their period of training is a good initiative since for many it was the only income they relied on to help provide for their children in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Dr. George Vincent, Director of Training with the GBAR, said that by year-end it is anticipated that 2, 500 persons will be trained under the training component of the recovery program which is being executed in partnership with non-governmental and community-based organizations across the country.