The Director for the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, Mr. Jene Thomas visited Antigua and the GARD Center on Thursday, 10 April, to get an understanding of the local situation and to see some of the programs that USAID supports (or supported).  Although the Caribbean Youth Empowerment Project (CYEP) has ended the team was very interested to hear about the work with vulnerable youth which was carried out by the Center   He was accompanied by the Acting Mission Director Debra Banks and the General Development Officer Walter Doetsch.

 
(2nd from left: Roberta Williams, Executive Director, GARD Center; Debra Banks, Jene Thomas, USAID team members; surrounded by GARD Center staff.)  Photo taken by Walter Doetsch, third member of the USAID team.
 
 
 
The team engaged in very fruitful discussions with the Executive Director and staff.  They were also able to observe youth in training and viewed some of the facilities that support our training programs.  Hopefully, this would allow the broader USAID team to get an understanding of the extremely important role the GARD Center plays working with vulnerable youth.  The team also heard some of the issues faced by youth.