The Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center (GARD Center) and the European Union, under the project, Empowerment of Young Women of Antigua in their income generation (YWEP), held its first graduation ceremony on Thursday, 13 February, 2014, at the Ebenezer Methodist Church, St. Mary’s Street, St. John’s.

 
The Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda, Her Excellency, Dame Louise Lake-Tack, attended and assisted with the presentation of certificates to the Top Students.   (R: Ms. Nazeer Colbourne, Overall Top Student)
 
 
Mrs. Judith Chastanet, Manager, Customer Relations Department of the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board and Mr. Ashton Fearon, Technical Research Officer & Project Administrator, GATE, also distributed certificates to the students.  (Pictured Left: Jermyra Williams receiving certificate from Mrs. Chastanet)
 
Special Recognition was given by the GARD Center to CIBC/First Caribbean International Bank and Townhouse Mega Store for their continued support towards the Center’s Entrepreneurship programme.
 
The Ceremony was ably guided by the Master of Ceremonies, Ms. Lenora Murphy, and the Invocation given by Rev. Otto Wade, President of the Methodist Conference.
The Welcome was delivered by two of the Agriculture graduates, Ms. Princess Waszutu Mack and Ms. Waszara Mack.
Congratulatory Remarks were given to the graduates by Mrs. Karen Massiah, Customer Services Coordinator/Executive Assistant, Antigua Computer Technology Co. Ltd. and Mr. Jedidiah Maxime, Director of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture.  The Hon. Harold Lovell, Minister of Finance also offered congratulatory remarks and words of encouragement to the graduates.
 
The Feature Address was delivered by youthful, Ms. Damara Phillips, Entrepreneur, (Graphic Artist and Disc-Jockey), who shared her passion, experiences, hard work and commitment, ups and downs with the graduates and others in the packed sanctuary.  This young lady spoke of her successful infiltration into traditionally male-dominated fields and how she continues to strive for excellence.  (L-R: Her Excellency, Governor General, Dame Louise Lake-Tack, Ms. Damara Phillips, Entrepreneur and Hon. Harold Lovell).
Ms. Kareem Francis, Project Manager of the Young Women Empowerment Programme gave a full, passionate, and emotional project review.  The majority of the young ladies / now graduates whom she always referred to as her children/girls had done exceptionally well, which made her tremendously proud.  Her ‘girls’ responded to her presentation in the most fitting of ways, with spontaneous applause.
There was also a segment for entertainment, and Business Enterprise graduate, Mrs. Tovia Carey-Dowe and guest artiste, Ms. Lauralie Nathan, each performed breath-taking solos.  Remarks were also delivered on behalf of the graduating classes by two of the ICT graduates, Ms. Germaine Dublin and Ms. Patricia Francis.

Portion of the Audience in Attendance at the Graduation Ceremony

Mrs. Roberta Williams delivered the Vote of Thanks.  She acknowledged those who assisted with all aspects of the project, and highlighted those business places which offered GARD Center’s students’ internships and employment.
The evening ceremony was closed in prayer by Rev. Janetta James, of the Antigua Methodist Circuit, and light refreshment was shared.
Photos courtesy New Media One.
 

6th ANNUAL CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE

Two young entrepreneurs were selected to represent the GARD Center at this important regional conference which was held in Jamaica, from 9 – 11 December 2013.  The Antiguan Delegation of Mr. Winston Laville and Ms. Waszara Mack were part of a four (4) member panel who represented our country in the panel discussion, Youth Entrepreneurs: Young Agripreneurs – Lessons  Learnt: Challenges, Successes and the way Forward.

Issues discussed included the challenges faced by youth in setting up businesses; successes gained through steadfastness and diligence, and the accomplishment of goals.  Also discussed was the ‘way forward’ stepping stones for the future, and the importance of the Caribbean people networking with each other to assure produce circulates among the region for the betterment of trade.
Mrs. Melida Harris – Barrow, President of the NIC-ETH Productions and AfroLatinoMagazine, offered free advertisement to the entrepreneurs who were present, giving them an opportunity to advertise themselves and their respective businesses worldwide.
Other panel discussions covered interesting topics, such as, advancing food security, women entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education to name a few.  After each session, there was a Questions and Answers section.
The Field Dialogue Research was set up so that three groups: one group to the market place in Linstead, the other in Bog Walk and the third group visited a farm.  Each group conducted a survey of the entrepreneurs they met to better understand more about them.  Why they chose that type of business and how they started their business were some of the questions asked during the research.  After such, each group had to analyse the information, discuss among themselves and make a group presentation of their findings.
After that event there was a field trip at a broiler farm which was a huge and fully mechanised facility which houses thousands upon thousands of birds.  The facility didn’t have any birds, for they were cleaning up for the next batch of birds to come in.  On investigation of the farm, it was found that the bird’s faeces are collected and sold to farmers as manure.  This inspired the livestock farmers who were present on the trip.
Also there were goat and pig pens, which housed the biggest pigs ever in those pens on the farm.  They also had a crop section where they planted corn, pigeon peas, sorrel and pineapple.
On the final day of the conference, those present were exposed to a competition going on offering grant funding for proposals that demonstrate exceptional potential impact on the environment.  Concepts of the fund include, sustainable agribusiness, water management, (including waste water), energy efficiency solar energy and resource use.  The day’s proceedings ended with the sale of exhibition items and the taking of pictures, while the night ended with a highly anticipated dinner and award ceremony.