Administrators of the Rose Town Foundation in St Andrew are highly enthusiastic about their construction internship programme that has been setting youth who are from the violent and gritty community on progressive paths.

The Rose Town Foundation executes the internship programme in collaboration with Gore Development Limited.

Now in its second year, the transformational programme exposes participants to various areas in construction and imparts important information to them that goes a far way in building their skills and professionalism. The aim is to be able to continue to the programme beyond just two years.

Ruth Jankee, the foundation’s executive director, told the Jamaica Observer that people have landed steady jobs in construction based on their participation in the programme, while others were able to find their calling in different fields.

Though the total number of participants in the programme was described as low, Jankee explained that the impact was far-reaching.

“The construction internship programme started in 2022 with the support of the Gore Family Foundation, who identified the importance of having intervention for youth at risk. Young people — male and female — are provided the opportunity to get training, skills and empowerment to be employable. Fifteen young people were picked up in Rose Town at 7 am and taken to a site. They had uniforms, gears, caps and everything, plus they got a stipend. They engaged in online programmes that did not only focus on construction-related things like masonry, electrical, etc, but also gave them life skills like conflict resolution and team building.”

“All of those courses were compulsory. They had a very strict code of conduct they had to abide by and so cursing and bad behaviour were not allowed at all. They got breakfast and lunch. They did their courses online but they also got hands-on experience. They were taken on outings and if they were doing the landscaping course, they went up to Hollywell and Hope Gardens and they met professionals in the field.”

“At the end of the programme all of them were not only skilled, but were employable. The Gore group gobbled up some of them and they were hired right away. Some of them joined the Jamaica Defence Force [JDF]. One of them got a scholarship and went to university to do pharmacology. It is not only the skills they learned, but the empowerment. They may not have wanted to do construction but what they learned about themselves allowed them to move forward and do other things.”

The second batch of participants are currently locked into the programme.

Jankee explained that an experienced researcher had conducted a study of the programme to determine its effectiveness and the findings regarding the Rose Town programme were impressive.

“Just about the time when we completed the first year, there was a research done by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute [CAPRI] on all the money being spent on government interventions in inner-city communities to fight against crime. The findings were very poor. The findings said all this money had been spent but what have we achieved? Gore felt strongly that we have to learn from that kind of research. One of CAPRI’s researchers came and they gave us very high marks. It wasn’t a CAPRI research but it was done by a researcher from CAPRI.

“There is so much negative mindset and a lack of understanding of what it takes to get ahead. Some people will come to me and say they need a job. I get them a job and after the second day they ask if they really have to go every day. The mindset is not there. The importance of this programme is the holistic approach which means that they are really employable at the end. We have 10 participants this year. Rose Town is small and most people like big numbers. They want to hear that 150 or 200 people graduated or got this or that. But we deal with 10 and 20 and that sometimes is very hard to sell to donors and sponsors but what we end up with is deep results.”

“We could shuffle 100 through the programme but they wouldn’t come out with what these 10 are coming out with. We really try to dig deep to have a long-term impact on the programme. We are hoping we can go for another year and we are also hoping that because of the review that was done, other people will see it worthwhile to support. It is not money down the drain. It is the kind of programme that is tried and proven to get the kind of results that are important.”

Cantal Boothe, operations manager of the Rose Town Foundation, was particularly excited and happy about the development and growth the participants experience.

“I am especially proud of the construction internship programme because you are able to really see the growth and development of the participants from the time they enter the programme to the time that they leave. I am particularly impressed with the amount of partnerships that have been able to come out of the programme where Gore was able to facilitate them being able to transition into the university system based on the qualifications they get within the programme. We have interns who are able to capitalise on these opportunities. We have participants who have received their project management certificate. This is something we are proud of. The partnership is not one that starts and ends in Rose Town but it can flow beyond the programme.”