KINGSTON, Jamaica—More than 50 residents of St Thomas are now better equipped to take advantage of the anticipated tourism boom and economic growth in the parish, having benefited from a tourism skills ready project.

They were provided with training and certification in areas such as administrative assistance, housekeeping, hospitality and maintenance, and mixology to enhance their employability. The residents were also exposed to customer care, financial literacy, workforce readiness and received team Jamaica certification.

The project was undertaken by the Rotary Club of Kingston East and Port Royal through a global grant by the Rotary International Foundation and with the support of the Rotary Club of Taipei Northeast in Taiwan.

Project Lead of the St. Thomas Tourism Skills Ready Project and Past President of the Rotary Club of Kingston East and Port Royal, Melissa Anderson, brings remarks during the project’s graduation ceremony at the Anglican Church Hall in Morant Bay recently. (JIS photo).

Project Lead and Past President of the Rotary Club of Kingston East and Port Royal, Melissa Anderson, in her address at the recent graduation ceremony, said that the main purpose of the initiative was the development of human potential, especially within a parish that has been undergoing a series of infrastructure and economic development.

“We were not simply thinking about training courses or certificates. We were thinking about people, we were thinking about opportunity, we were thinking about how we could help prepare residents of St Thomas to participate more fully in the economic transformation taking place within Jamaica’s tourism industry,” she said.

“We heard about the investments in your infrastructure, the roads, the investments in real estate development, and the hundreds of hotel rooms and tourist attractions expected to come to this community. We believe that we should follow that trend by investing in you, the people,” Anderson said.

Cultural Strategist and Founder of iPublish Consultancy, Latoya West-Blackwood, delivers the keynote address during the graduation ceremony for the St. Thomas Tourism Skills Ready Project at the Anglican Church Hall in Morant Bay recently. (JIS photo).

She noted that the training will ensure that the economic benefits of the developments flow directly into the local economy, reaching venues, food service providers, sound technicians, decorators, transport operators, and others.

She noted that the completion of the project is a celebration of confidence gained, skills developed, dreams reignited, and possibilities expanded.

Participants in the project received training from the HEART/NSTA Trust, the Institute for Workforce Education and Development (IWED), Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), JWN Academy, Hive Careers, Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, Jamaica Theological Seminary, First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union, and others.

Anderson also acknowledged the support of the Rotary Club of Taipei Northeast in Taiwan, which, despite being separated by oceans and cultures “believe in the people of Jamaica [and] in the potential of St Thomas.”

Cultural Strategist and Founder of iPublish Consultancy, Latoya West-Blackwood, who delivered the keynote address, charged the graduates to use their training to improve themselves, pointing out that, “opportunities by themselves don’t transform lives.”

“It is when people who are prepared to meet opportunities that it truly equals something powerful. You represent not only the potential but you’re moving from potential to real possibility because of the opportunity that you have been granted. Now you have the certification, and so you’re prepared to meet opportunities that are coming,” she said.

She urged the graduates to play an active role in their communities and to be leaders.

“Even though you have finished the formal training, I want you to adopt an attitude within your family and within your community space that you are a major stakeholder. You’re not just going to now go back to your spaces and sit down and watch things unfold. You are now equipped to be leaders in your space. Use what you have learned and to convert that into actions,” West-Blackwood encouraged.

-JIS