Women given a renewed chance at earning
Published:Tuesday | April 26, 2022 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH THE rigours of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting the earning power of several persons living in the rural areas of the country, 10 women who reside in the deep rural district of Maryland, Hanover, were given a renewed chance at earning by being taught to sew soft furnishings.
The women persevered a six-month training course, which was organised by the Maryland Community Development Committee (CDC) in collaboration with councillor for the Sandy Bay division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Andria Dehaney-Grant, and the HEART Trust NSTA parish office in Hanover.
The course had aspects of it taught online initially, then switched to face-to-face classes in the community, and later moved to the HMC offices in Lucea because of logistical issues. It then continued into a practical aspect at the Kenilworth HEART Academy in Sandy Bay, where it culminated in an examination involving a practical project and a written aspect. Upon successful completion, participants were all certified in the production of soft furnishings.
At a ceremony held on the weekend to hand out the certificates and exhibit some of the products done by participants, Dehaney-Grant told The Gleaner that she was very proud as they showed determination, an eagerness to be independent, and to earn to help their families.
“We were all faced with the challenge of the instructors having to make that four-kilometre journey to Maryland, and considering the bad road conditions, the approval of the HMC was sought and received for classes to be held in the HMC meeting room in Lucea, and the women journeyed from their district to Lucea for the classes without any complaining,” stated Dehaney-Grant.
She pointed out that the willingness of participants spurred the Hanover Charities organisation and Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels to assist them through the purchase of commercial sewing machines, which helped the group immensely in pursuing the course.
WIDESPREAD BENEFIT
Motivational speaker Shaurna Miller, who gave the main charge to the successful participants, noted that Jamaica was, basically, a matriarchal society, and given that the course was one that sought to empower women, it would have the resultant effect of empowering the whole Maryland community in particular, and by extension, the parish of Hanover.
She praised the community spirit that was exhibited in the organisation and participation in the course while also charging the successful participants to become mentors in their community.
“Efforts like this is what Jamaica needs at this point in time, communities that can come together and work together, towards heightening the aesthetic awareness of its citizens. When persons become aesthetically aware, they become sensitive, and when they become more sensitive, it will improve the inter-personal relationships within the communities, and as such, there will be less crime,” she stated.
Miller encouraged the participants to look at their achievement of completing the course as a major life-changing accomplishment while expressing the hope that it would also improve their individual self-confidence levels.