Government’s One Family Programme continues to positively impact the lives of many of its clients, through an arrangement that allows families, especially those who left school without certification, a second chance at education.
This revelation came last Saturday as Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, spoke to media representatives at the Drug Education and Counselling Services (DECS) Headquarters at Roebuck Street, St. Michael, about the successful partnership the One Family Programme has with DECS and the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust.
Lauding the Trust, which was instrumental in obtaining the DECS Roebuck Street facility, he referred to it as “a charity par excellence” and said of the programme with DECS: “One of the things we realised with the One Family Programme is that a number of our clients needed this additional support…. This is a wonderful marriage. This is what you needed, and this is what you provide.”
Mr. Humphrey outlined how clients were benefiting. He stated: “We are beginning with 309 of our clients. We have 141 who will be doing CXCs (Caribbean Examination Council) and that’s a nine-month course. We have 139 who will be doing Skills Programmes – that’s about three months. And then we have 29 who are pursuing remedial courses and that would be for about six months. That work will allow our clients, then, to have the capacity to make a vital contribution to Barbados. That’s all we want at the end of the day.”
The Minister also alluded to the fact that the goal of the One Family Programme was being exceeded. He said: “When we started the One Family Programme, the idea was that we would take 1,000 most vulnerable families in the first instance, and then as time progressed, we would take another 1,000, and then another 1,000 until we were able to reach all.
“Of course, we did not account for the exponential growth, where if we take a thousand and some of those persons then go out and change some lives, or we were able to bring on more and more community groups, whether they are local NGOs or bigger NGOs and they change some lives, then you have an exponential growth and you’re able to have an even wider impact. And I think that is what we are now experiencing on the programme.”
Mr. Humphrey; members of the One Family team; Grand Patron of the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, Derrick Smith; and Trustee Pippa Challis toured the classrooms and other facilities.
Speaking to members of the Trust, the Minister said: “We want to thank you for your partnership with the One Family Programme that up to now is well over $200,000 and continues to grow…. This is what Barbados needs, the capacity and the opportunity for all of us…to come together to do something transformative for the island…. If we could have this programme replicated all over Barbados, what a difference we are going to make!”
Meanwhile Chairman of DECS, Roger Husbands, said the Second Chance Lessons Programme was launched many years ago out of necessity. “We’ve realised that adults are also in need of a second chance at education. Most of these young people dropped out of school and left without education. We realised that we needed to give young people skills so that they can go out and be entrepreneurs,” Mr. Husbands stated.
Trustee of the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, Pippa Challis, stated they were pleased to continue supporting DECS’ work and helping families improve their circumstances. “We are not giving them the fish. We need to teach families and the parents to be able to provide for their children. That’s why we love the One Family Programme. The fact that we’ve been able to bring two entities together in the DECS building…the two of you together, we are going to win; the island is going to win.”
At the event, there was also the official opening of the Julian Sacher Computer Lab – in honour of Mr. Sacher, a trustee and early supporter of the DECS’ work, who died last year. (PR/GIS)
Caption: Chairman of Drug Education and Counselling Services, Roger Husbands, making a presentation to Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, at the media event last Saturday.
