St Helena : Community Workers Improving St. Helena
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 28.08.2003 (Article Archived on 11.09.2003)
St. Helena's community workers are helping to improve tourist attraction sites as well as other areas around the Island.
Community Workers improving Tourist Attraction Sites
On occasions, the St Helena Tourist Office has had to call on Community Workers to carry out small projects at key sites around the Island.
Recently, the Boer Road, leading from Flagstaff to Ruperts, was cleared of shrubs as the area was becoming overgrown. Several Community Workers undertook this work. The Boer Road is an important part of St Helena’s heritage and this was one of the areas highlighted by a member of the public as a result of the Tourist Office’s request for suggestions to improve heritage sites.
Community Workers were also involved in clearing the surrounding areas of Halley’s Observatory. A private contractor recently rebuilt the Observatory walls to a few feet high and Community Workers will now ensure that the Observatory and the path is kept clear of shrubs for visitors.
In speaking about the clearing of shrubs in other parts of the Island Pamela Young, Director of Tourism said: "Community Workers are to be commended for the various projects they are undertaking to beautify the Island."
Looking towards the future the Employment Benefits and Administration Officer will look at the possibility of the Community Workers clearing the path to Heart-Shaped Waterfall, as this could then become a visitor attraction site.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
21 August 2003
Community Workers help in Schools
Teaching is a challenging job, and it can become very demanding, particularly where there are classes full of pupils requiring the teachers’ attention.
However, Community Workers have helped to improve the situation, as a number of them are assisting in schools carrying out tasks for teachers and generally helping around the schools.
Lilla Yon is the Education Officer for Primary Schools, and is currently carrying out some of the duties of the Chief Education Officer; commenting on the Community Workers, she said: "they are of great help." She went on to say that if Community Workers were not in the schools, their input would be missed, because the work they do would have to fall back on the teachers.
The Community Workers are involved in a variety of activities including assisting with sports and playground duties, putting up wallboard displays, drawing pictures and generally supporting teachers. Most are working in the first schools and have taken on some ‘must-do’ jobs such as preparing milk for pupils, and ensuring materials such as pencils, pens and paper are ready for lessons.
Lilla said that, as is the case with all persons working within the Education Department, the Community Workers are treated as professionals, and she feels that this has helped to boost their self-esteem. After working in schools, some have gone on to take up clerical posts and some have also been taken on full time as school auxiliary workers. One worked temporarily as a school secretary and another is working as a temporary nursery assistant.
The Community Workers have become very much a part of the school, and in addition to working normal hours, they are also prepared to help out when other activities take place such as school meetings and entertainments.
Some have found it more convenient to spread their hours over four days instead of the traditional three-day, and this can be of benefit to schools as well.
When taking Community Workers on, the Education Department looks for any special talents so that someone with cooking experience can assist teachers in the home economics section, and those with artistic talents are able to assist with displays and drawing. By working in the schools, the Community Workers are gaining valuable on-the-job training, and Lilla feels that some have real potential. "We’ve got some very valuable people," she said.
This programme has been running for some time now, and some of the community workers have been assisting in schools for the last three years. Feedback to the Education Department has indicated that the Community Workers are enjoying the work they do.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
14 August 2003
Community Workers make Millennium Forest a Success
Since the idea of a Millennium Forest was first conceived a barren ground has been transformed into a vibrant young forest. Much of this is attributed to the work that has been done by Community Workers. "Without them, I don’t think we would have a forest," said Ronald Coleman, Employment Benefits and Administration Officer.
Today, there are between 4500 and 5000 gumwood trees growing in the Horse Point area at Longwood, and these trees are being cared for by a group of Community Workers. Isabel Peters, Environmental Coordinator from the Development and Economic Planning Department said that in order to get the forest to the way it is today, Community Workers have had to dig around 5000 holes, assist with the planting of trees on tree planting days, water all trees on a regular basis put tree guards around young trees, put up wind breaks and do weeding and replace dead trees. She said that human resources within conservation are limited, and without the Community Workers, this project would never have been such a success. "They genuinely have ownership of the forest because of all of the work they are doing there," she said.
On behalf of the St Helena Government, Isabel Peters attended the Overseas Territories Conference on Environmental/Conservation issues from 28 September to 1 October 2000. The conference was titled: "Linking the Fragments of Paradise". Also in attendance was Stedson Stroud from the St Helena Nature Conservation Group. A paper on the Millennium Forest Project, written by Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks and Isabel Peters, was presented at the conference and as a result the Millennium Forest was one of the main talking points at this conference.
In addition to contributing to the Millennium Forest, Isabel said that Community Workers are also doing an important job in landscaping various areas as this is enhancing the environment.
Commenting on the work that Community Workers are doing at the Millennium Forest, Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks, Chairperson of the Millennium Forest Committee said, "We have been extremely fortunate and are grateful for having had three-day labourers since the inception of the forest project and the Millennium Forest gang have been diligent, capable, dedicated and a pleasure to work with. In truth had we not had this consistent support from the DESS the forest would not be the success that it is today".
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
6 August 2003
|
