WPO general secretary Sheila Veerasammy talks about a program designed to help women gain financial independence, especially as the holiday season approaches
Focused on empowerment, the Women Progressive Organisation (WPO) has held a vital training programme to equip women with necessary skills and the earning power to come out of poverty and get on the path of self-development.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Sheila Veerasammy, WPO’s general secretary, said a group of 25 women who are wives, mothers, single parents, teenage girls, and women, all victims and survivors of domestic violence, were provided with skills training in areas that empowered them to save and to earn. They all received a certificate of participation upon completion. The awardees hail from Georgetown, East Coast, East Bank and West Coast Demerara.
Veerasammy added that the strategy behind the training programme was in preparation for the upcoming Christmas holidays. The skills learnt will allow beneficiaries of the training programme to sell their individual creations to earn for themselves and families.
“Those earnings will go a far way to reduce poverty in their families. This programme was held as part of WPO celebrations of its 60th anniversary. Through this skills training programme for women, we aim to help them subsidize and economize. We are also providing training for women groups at grassroots levels. Those classes are kept under bottom houses and at schools; we are providing resources so that they can teach other women to empower themselves. We hope the women who participated in this programme take what they learnt back to their communities and help to empower other women,” she explained.
At the end of the training programme, an exhibition was organised to showcase the women’s creations. The exhibition was held September 10 at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House) High Street.
“The conference room at the centre was transformed into a flurry of activities that corresponded with the bright faces and smiles of the women who proudly displayed their products for viewing by guests and visitors. The feelings of achievement among students were reflected in their demands for such training programmes to be taken around the country so that women who are WPO members can benefit from the skills taught to them. Several of the students indicated that they will be pursuing courses to enhance what they have already learnt at other institutions such as the Board of Industrial Training and the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute,” Veerasammy recalled.
Curtain making, nail artistry, floral arrangements, handicraft (decorative dolls, clothes pin arrangements, fabric painting) and cake decoration were taught, with facilitators Padmini Singh, Nandani Singh and Sharon Singh.
WPO was founded in May 27, 1953, and has more than 150 groups across the country. The organisation boasts more than 5,000 women members, with membership expanding across all administrative regions. The current president of the group is women’s activist Indra Chandarpal.
At a recent press conference to outline the activities to mark the 60th anniversary of WPO, Chandarpal said Guyanese women had much to celebrate, given the social, economic and political gains made in Guyana during the past 60 years.
She also mentioned that WPO has also made a significant contribution through various initiatives in empowering women while equipping them with the necessary skills to face the world. Additionally, she stated that the organisation provides training to professional and grassroots women in information technology and works with them on an individual basis to meet specific needs.
For its anniversary, WPO is coordinating a number of outreaches and other activities across the country. It also plans to utilise the opportunity to mobilise women in response to calls for assistance and work on completing a book on the history of the organisation.
WPO’s central committee congratulates all the women who participated in the recently concluded empowerment programme on their achievements and wishes them many more successes in the future.
