St. Lucian Ceramist – Adam Azaire
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
February 17, 2009 (SKNIS)
Government’s policy of training locals in new skills or enhancing existing ones is at the heart of a 13-week Pottery Skills Workshop taking place at the Craft House.
Just under 50 persons are taking advantage of this free course scheduled to run from February 16 to May 21. At a brief welcome ceremony on Monday, General Manager of the Craft House Austin Weekes told SKNIS that persons were eager to participate in this programme organized under the umbrella of the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture.
“I was rather overwhelmed to say that we had at least 65 registrants willing to participate in this workshop,” he said, noting that space and resources did not allow for a larger class. “The prospects [suggest] that we [need] to have a additional workshop perhaps in the New Year if not sooner.”
The weekday workshop is staged three times daily. Sessions run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mr. Weekes explained that this schedule affords working people the convenience of choosing a practical schedule.
“We are seeking through this workshop to empower our people by creating a cadre of ceramist which will do our country proud and also themselves proud so that they can be entrepreneurs in their own rights,” the general manager added.
The workshop is facilitated by ceramist Adam Azaire of St. Lucia, who has over 20 years of experience as consultant with the Caribbean Development Bank’s Technological Consultancy Service in the field of pottery and ceramics.
Azaire assured the participants that they will have a fun time and will learn a lot about the industry. He paraphrased a popular saying and noted “why pay somebody to do something that you can learn in a couple of weeks, and then earn from learning it?”
The Caribbean Development Bank through the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) partnered with the Craft House to execute this training workshop.
Project Manager Osbert Desuza said that BNTF is committed to working with the Government in its bid to fulfill the training and development needs of the population. He encouraged persons to take advantage of such opportunities when they come along.
This current workshop is the third collaboration between the Craft House and BNTF and it is the public’s hope that similar joint venture continues.