DARK DAYS
The future looked certain for Lenesha James from Barrouallie, St. Vincent. At age seventeen she was a national junior athlete who represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines internationally. She was preparing for her CSEC examinations level with a place at College in her sights.
Then she became pregnant. Lenesha admits she was “devastated, shocked, ashamed and disappointed” with herself. Nevertheless, she persevered with her studies during her pregnancy in order to complete the CSEC exams. But further challenges lay ahead. Lenesha was hospitalized the night before her first exam where she gave birth to her son two months premature. She was determined to take the exam and succeeded with the help of a nurse who arranged for her to write the English Language exams at the hospital, achieving a Grade One pass.
Based on her CSEC examination results, she matriculated to the Community College where she pursued an Associate Degree in Hospitality. However, due to the lack of financial support, she dropped out of College after a year. To make matters worse, Lenesha became pregnant again – but lost her baby.
A GLIMPSE OF HOPE
Following this tragedy, Lenesha recalls going back to the hospital to retrieve her belongings, where her partner bought the winning ticket in a “Premature Baby Month” raffle. The grand prize was a beautifully decorated cake. She recalls, “Although I was grieving, I became mesmerized by this cake, the details in the decoration and t
he color scheme gave me some level of comfort”. A seed of an idea had been implanted in Lenesha’s mind.
In early 2020, Lenesha heard about the full-time course in Cake Baking and Decorating supported by the SkYE programme at the Barrouallie Technical Institute (BTI). Whilst excited about pursuing the course, her plan was initially thwarted because, now a mother of two, she did not have a babysitter. However, with the support of her husband, months later she joined the UKaid funded course and began her journey to empowerment at BTI in the Cake Baking and Decorating class of 2020-2021.
A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Three months into the programme, Lenesha has already engendered a spirit of entrepreneurship by producing cakes for sale. “I am most definitely on my way to owning my own business before I leave BTI,” she confidently declares.
Lenesha is sure that she is onto a new chapter in her life – one of renewal, growth, and empowerment thanks in part to family, instructors and the SkYE programme. Her words of encouragement to other young people are to, “Engage in meaningful and productive pursuits in order to overcome challenges”.
FACTS
Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) is a four-year, UKaid funded programme to provide certified skills training for 6,000 disadvantaged young people, including those challenged by disability, in four Eastern Caribbean countries: Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines. The Programme will develop a more productive and inclusive workforce in sectors with good economic growth potential.
SkYE is supporting national training authorities and training providers to make systemic improvements to the development, delivery and quality assurance of technical, vocational education and training (TVET) in the four focus islands through targeted capacity building.
