Published: Wednesday | June 3, 2009
Thanks to the Citizens Security for Justice Programme (CSJP), 28 women from inner-city communities in the Corporate Area can now look towards a brighter future.
The women were all successful in passing level one of the programme.
Jacqueline Curton, one member of the all-female group, given the opportunity to go back to school at the Hanover Street Community Vocational Training Centre, is very proud of her achievements.
She graduated from high school with three subjects and within a year she got pregnant and was forced to work, a fact which was to later stop her from studying any further.
Jumped at Opportunity
Nothing would hold her back forever though, as she quickly jumped at the once in a lifetime opportunity.
Curton had to resign from her job in January but said the programme had been a success as she learnt a variety of things, including early childhood, math, English language and entrepreneurship.
She added that it was difficult but it was her determination that kept her going. "Everything about it is challenging; we had to do a lot of research, a lot of reading and we had projects that were very challenging. I told myself that I wanted to do it and getting this opportunity, I would do everything possible to come out successful and that's what I did," she said.
High hopes
She now has high hopes of improving her situation with the training she has received at the Hanover Street facility.
Like Curton, Larone Murray, a resident from August Town, also had a child shortly leaving high school with five subjects, but has made full use of the chance to uplift herself. Earlier attempts to do an early-childhood programme at the Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) were delayed as she was told there were not enough participants to start.
However, with a keen eye for what she wants, she enrolled at the Hanover Street facility shortly after her sister and is now overwhelmed at having completed her objectives.
She learned new ways of bathing a baby and dressing a wound, valuable information that she can use on her career path.
"There are a lot of innovative ways that I have learnt to do things from this programme," she said.
According to Donovan McLaren, the instructor from Kevoy Community Development Institute, who delivered the programme, these people were chosen by CSJP and have been drawn from various inner-city communities facing numerous challenges and factors.
The group started out with 30 students, two of whom the centre manager, Eileen Black, says were unable to finish because of illness. Black made provisions to accommodate the group at the Hanover Street facility and now that they have finished level one, they are looking forward to level two with high expectations.