On Monday 14th October, Board members of the Soualiga Social Movement met with Mr. Wayne Brook to discuss what synergies exist between the SSM’s "HandyManVan project" and the various social workplace or employability thru training courses provided by the Ministry.
The HandyManVan project aims to equip a utility van with proper tools and equipment for most home repairs and have a few young adults trained on the job by a tradesman supervisor for some time. The participants would also have to follow mandatory workshops on employability, marketing, social interaction and business practices.
Both parties explained their projects’ highs, lows and bottlenecks and it became clear that most of these types of projects encounter similar obstacles such as the unwillingness of some young adults to give information to authority figures and the lack of the proper paperwork needed to be employed.
SSM agreed with Mr. Brook that efforts and initiatives need to be put in place to avoid these bottlenecks for future projects. Both parties discussed other possible projects and would meet again in the near future.