The Soufriere Comprehensive School now has a carpentry training facility. Thanks to a small projects grant of US$30.000 from the German Embassy, which was initiated by German Honorary Consul Karolin Troubetzkoy, the building was completed in 2014 but additional funding needed to be sought for the carpentry equipment. Eventually, an additional US$3000 was donated by Anse Chastanet Resort and a further US$3000 by guests of Anse Chastanet to bring the project to completion in September 2015.
The carpentry training facility comprises of a purpose made structure that embodies future expansion ability in addition to the supply of heavy equipment such as a bench saw, band saw, belt sander and a selection of drills, hammers and routers in addition to a full complement of hand tools. The facility is now provisioned with the equipment and tools to facilitate a full-scale carpentry vocational and skills training.
For now, the carpentry facility caters to students of Forms 1&2. Gradually, it will become a well-used training facility for over 600 students between the ages of 11–16 and it is expected that in the foreseeable future there will be at least sixty students graduating with a CVQ at the end of each year. It is an ideal place for students to learn, develop and express their carpentry skills.
German Honorary Consul Karolin Troubetzkoy expressed her gratitude to retired school teacher Mr Innocent Aimable and Carl Hunter, the Property Manager of Anse Chastanet who made their own time available to guide and supervise the initial contraction project and remained involved to see the project to completion. A special thank you must also go to the parents and school children who contributed their energy and skills to the carpentry facility.
The Small Grants Scheme of the German Embassy – as part of the technical cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and partner countries – was first introduced in 1980 to give German missions abroad the ability to assist communities who require small amounts of financial aid in initiating “hands-on” projects that assist in improving the social and economic situation. Eligible groups can be governmental or non-governmental organizations, cooperatives or associations, etc. The recipient partner has to actively contribute either by providing labour, training facilities and/or trainers.
