By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE SKILLS and knowledge-base of residents of Falmouth, Trelawny have climbed up a notch in recent weeks, as scores of individuals and community organisations are benefiting from a series of workshops being spearheaded by the United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNVP). The workshops which are being implemented through the UNVP's Support to Intra-City Volunteerism project (SICV) aim to improve the skills and capacity-building power of the people of Falmouth.
"The training is conducted on a voluntary basis whereby specialised agencies volunteer their skills and expertise in training residents," explained Abel Kipeja, UNVP promotions specialist. "It is hoped that those who benefit from training will be trainers to other members of the Falmouth community with the specialised agencies providing support."
During the last four weeks, the seminars have covered a variety of topics including sustainable fishing, project proposal writing, sustainable environments in schools, effective communication and co-operative business operations. To date service clubs, citizens' associations and parent teachers' associations have made use of the training activities. As of mid-August, the training fora will focus on HIV/AIDS control and outreach programmes.
INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITY
Meanwhile, traditional fishing practices have led to low fish catches and an insecure livelihood for the fisherfolk in Trelawny. According to the management team of the UNVP, there has been a growing feeling among the fishermen that they have learnt a lot from the instructional programmes run by his organisation.
Mr. Kipeja is confident that the training programme for the fishers will encourage them to "form a co-operative as well as properly manage the eco-system. The workshops also introduced to them the concept of fish farming as an alternative income-generating activity." On the matter of the sustainable environment in schools, 32 members of parent teachers' associations in Falmouth representing 15 schools participated in the workshops.
Ingrid Spence, UNVP's participatory development specialist, highlighted features of the training programme on the environment: "We sensitised the youth on environmental care. The schools will now have to compete in a 'Most Environmentally Friendly School' competition. In addition, the schools will serve as a converging point where facts on the environment are easily disseminated to the community."
At the end of the seminars, participants were presented with certificates.
The UNVP, which has its headquarters in Bonn, Germany, works to enhance urban development by using unpaid labour to solve problems facing the town.
Jamaica is one of three places in the world where the programme is being piloted, and the Falmouth leg of the programme, which is scheduled to last for two years, is to come to an end in November.
