Strength in numbers!
─ Yarrowkabra women urged to form women’s group
─ group to facilitate training programs in Yarrowkabra
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Sewing, craft-making, catering and baking are just some of the courses that will soon be made available to the residents of Yarrowkabra Village.
These courses will be facilitated by the soon-to-be-formed Yarrowkabra Women’s Group. The initial members of the group were identified during a community meeting with the Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Hon. Valerie Garrido-Lowe.
The encouragement for a women’s group came when Valerie Wickham, a resident, asked what could be done in terms of education for more mature persons. “I hear you talking about classes for the younger people, but what about the older people, some of them need to go to school too,” she asked.
Minister Garrido-Lowe informed Wickham accordingly, “That wouldn’t be a problem, we can talk about that… I can return and we will form a women’s group and see how we can begin training sessions.”
After the meeting, the minister then encouraged the Yarrowkabra residents to identify seven women on the spot to establish the group. These women will be the initial members and were tasked with filling the positions necessary to make the organisation functional.
Apart from the formation of this women’s group, the minister also gave her commitment to bringing the Hinterland Employment and Youth Services (HEYS) Programme to the village of Yarrowkabra so that the youths there can have the assistance they need to make a start in life.
The HEYS programme was developed to positively contribute to improving the lifestyle and living standard for hinterland youth and young adults. It has been implemented in more than 100 hinterland communities across the country and has yielded exceptional results.