Skills training for low income women
Wilhelmina Brown is a single mother of two teenagers aged 16 and 18 years. She left school 20 years ago and has over the years held many jobs and has even tried her hand at self-employment.
Fifty seven year old Yvonne Thorpe is unemployed and lives in Kingston. She has held many jobs over the years and says “I don’t think age is a barrier to learning.”
Nicole Williams is an unemployed resident of Linstead in St Catherine. She left school eight years ago and her aim in life is to set up her own business.
What do these women have in common- Every Monday to Thursday evening they attend classes in Electrical Installation and Masonry at the Portmore HEART Academy under the first cycle of the HEART/NTA Inter American Development Bank Regional Project in Non Traditional Skills Training for Low Income Women. They are among 197 women across the island who are now taking classes in Masonry, Electrical Installation, Painting, Carpentry and Welding.
Under the three-year project low income from Jamaica, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are being trained to increase their access to employment in non-traditional areas. This is being done through the provision of specialised skills training programmes in technical and vocational fields.
The programme is being administered in conjunction with the following executing agencies: In Jamaica, The HEART Trust/NTA; in Guyana, The Institute of Distance and Continuing Education of the University of Guyana; In Belize, The Centre for Employment and Training; and in Trinidad and Tobago, The Ministry of Culture and Gender Affairs.
In each country a support institution has been contracted to assist in the implementation of the project: The Women’s Construction Collective is the support institution for Jamaica, the Belize Organisation for Women and Development (BOWAND) has been contracted to work in Belize; Red Thread in Guyana, and Women Working for Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago.
These institutions were selected on the basis of their proven track records in technical and vocational training for women and innovative work-study programmes.
Wilhelmina Brown was introduced to the project through the Women’s Construction Collective. She says three years ago she was at home not working listening to the Hotline programme on Radio Jamaica when she heard an interview with members of the Women’s Construction Collective. She made contact and joined the group. Since then Wilhelmina has taken courses in Masonry and Carpentry under the auspices of the WCC. She has worked on two construction sites doing masonry.
Wilhelmina was informed about the HEART/IDB Project through the Women’s Construction Collective. In her words, “The course is interesting and I am learning. When I am finished I want to become an Independent contractor.”
Dion Cadien, an unemployed single mother of two was also introduced to the project through the WCC. She made contact with the group last year and has since taken classes in Masonry and Carpentry. She is now enrolled in the Carpentry class at the Portmore Academy. Dion says, “This project will help me build my self esteem and help me achieve the goal of building my own house.”
The Portmore HEART Academy is one of the 10 locations where classes are being conducted across the island. Academy manager, Winston Martin, says this project is very important and fits in with the mandate of the HEART Programme. He says there are 49 women enrolled in courses at the Academy; 20 doing Masonry, 11 pursuing studies in Electrical Installation, eight studying Painting and 10 doing Carpentry and Joinery.
During a recent visit to the Academy women in the electrical installation class were busily taking notes during a lecture by instructor Errol Crawford. Over in the Masonry course Nicole Risden and Heather Thompson were making a concrete slab under the watchful eyes of instructor Clyde Pinnock. Nicole is a clerical officer employed to the Kingston Public Hospital and is taking the course to ensure that she will be able to supervise the construction of her own house. She is also hoping to gain employment in the construction industry. Healther Thompson is unemployed and has a five-year-old child to support and she wants to get a job in the construction industry after graduation.
Over at the Bridgeport Comprehensive High School 5 women were working industriously in the Carpentry class taking instructions from Woodwork instructor, Brendan Neil. Janice Powell says he joined the programme after hearing friends discuss the project after a JIS-TV programme. Her aim is to set up her own business. Mr Aston Messam, the principal of the Bridgeport Comprehensive High School, describes the course as a good initiative. He says 18 women are attending classes at this location; 10 in the Carpentry class and eight in the Electrical Installation course.
In March of next year participants in the first cycle from Jamaica, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago hope to walk away with competency certificates that will allow them to enter the workforce in the non-traditional skill areas that are dominated by men.
As the Jamaican Proverb says:
“Woman Luck deh a dungle, an one day wan fowl will come scratch it out for her.”
This means that a woman must never give up because even under the gloomiest of circumstances there is the possibility that she will triumph in the end. The HEART Trust/IADB Regional Project in Non-Traditional Skills Training for Low Income Women is providing an opportunity for these women to increase their earning capacity, improve the quality of their lives and contribute to the development of the region.
