A life skills training was successfully carried out by the Guadalcanal Provincial Council of Women (GPCW).
Funded by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) based in Canada, this training was specifically held for settlers confined in the emergency zone.
On 21st April, participants from Koqulai and Veravasa were encouraged to utilize their land instead of selling them.
“Agribusiness is the way to go”, Selina Berah from the GPCW said.
Since a state of emergency was declared, the GPCW are concerned about their people's welfare directly affected by the SoE.
With that, they decided to seek funds to support these people through life skills training.
Commonwealth of Learning was approached by GPCW to support their endeavor.
Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organization created by the Commonwealth Heads of Government. It was established to promote development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.
Upon submission of their proposal to COL, they were quite pleased that they were able to secure funds just a few days after their submission.
Their aim was to pass on skills and knowledge to participants to enable them carry out business activities other than their normal roadside market, which is now banned by the government during the state of emergency.
During the sessions, participants were also encouraged to develop a small business plan for their investments.
“Develop a financial plan and do your cash flow projection”, Selina said.
She told the participants that there are many ways to develop a business. She said they must be willing to start small and then monitor their progress as they grow.
The same training on Entrepreneurship was held for participants at Visale. In the session, 53 participants attended the workshop at Visale.
Most of the participants were said to be very pleased with the sessions conducted by GPCW.