Forty for livelihoods project graduation

Two communities – Chapmans and Diamond Villlage – are to present 40 of their members at a livelihoods project graduation on Tuesday next.{{more}}

Under the supervision of Simeon Greene, project consultant of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), dormant crafts have been revitalised

in these villages. At the Chapman’s Centre heritage skills in weaving whist, lavender grass, and “ping wing,” as well as wood carving, were introduced to some two dozen persons. The results are astounding and will be on display at the graduation.

In Diamond Village, the skills developed were drum making, drum playing and marketing, as well as community-based tour guiding and the documentation and cultivation of herbal remedies. Here again, the outcomes make the community proud, and twenty persons will be recognized. The trainees in this project are all to be complemented for their dedication to the development of traditional skills in the area.

The two community organizations which carried out this project had several agencies to support them. The funding provided by the FAO originated from a European Union (EU) grant under the Special Framework for Assistance (SFA). The idea behind the project was to examine and demonstrate how communities might use forest and plant products to earn livelihoods while preserving the forest. The Government of St. Vincent under the Forestry Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries was the main facilitator of the project.

The formal presentation of graduates of the Environmental Watershed Project for Sustainable Livelihood takes place at 3:00pm on Tuesday, September 20, at the New Testament Church. The ceremony will be followed by an exhibition of products in Earlene Horne Square. The organizations extend invitations to members of the surrounding communities.