U.S. Charge D’Affaires to the Eastern Caribbean Dr. Brent Hardt in front of a table full of donated goods. Victoria Baucom, Founder of the Community Achievement Project, is seated.

U.S. Charge D’Affaires to the Eastern Caribbean Dr. Brent Hardt flew in for the event and officially handed over the donated goods on behalf of the Embassy.

Speaking to the assembled stakeholders, students, and media about the various regional programs that the U.S. Embassy supports, Hardt gave particular praise to the CAP-Basseterre High School partnership and its mission to help uplift participating students in St. Kitts and Nevis.

“The focus is to give perspective, hope, and the skills to become entrepreneurs and to develop their own businesses,” he said. “So, with Basseterre High School, students have a tremendous opportunity to develop those technical skills, whether its carpentry, or plumbing, or air conditioning technology, or electronics. The tools we have here will strengthen the program and allow students to get some hands-on experience.”

On the partnership itself, Hardt continued, “The school working together with the Community Achievers Project is a perfect fit because the two can support each other in such a way that a student from the school can participate in the program, so that things that they do in vocational training can strengthen the program in the field.”

The donation was provided through the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “A Ganar” regional youth workforce development program, implemented in cooperation with the Partners of the Americas organization. “A Ganar” means “to win” or “to earn” in Spanish. CAP, which teaches agriculture-based skills and entrepreneurship to students, is one of three St. Kitts partners in the USAID program.

Victoria Baucom, founder of CAP, noted that many of the students did not pass a number of required tests, and would have been washed out of the school system, if not for a timely intervention by Basseterre High School administrators.

“Mrs. [Urlene] Roberts and Jerome Williams developed a program to bring the youth back, so all of them will be returning for Fifth Form, although they did not pass the exams,” she said. “They have created a vocational program for them, so when they come back they’re going to learn carpentry, air conditioning, and refrigeration.”

Referring to the shopping excursion taken the previous day with Lt. Col. Edward Harvey of the U.S. Embassy Military Liaison Office, Baucom enthused, “We went on a shopping spree yesterday, and he bought everything that they will need, so that when they come back in September they will have the tools they need to work with. … So, we have a full agenda for our youth. When we bring them back for Fifth Form, they will have a program. We have supplies, we have teachers, we have a dedicated educational institution who believes in A Ganar and what we are doing, and they believe in their students.”

With the raw materials and tools purchased through USAID, a food processing kitchen, bathroom, and greenhouse will be largely constructed at the high school, after which the finished products will be transported to the farm where CAP classes are held. The donated equipment and supplies will also be utilized to help expand the high school’s vocational training facilities.

Among the other donated items was a video camera that Baucom promised would be used to document the work progress, which will be assiduously recorded to show what CAP students are capable of.

Jonecia Butler, 16, is enjoying being part of the A Ganar program, and explained to The Observer how it benefited both herself and her peers.

“Our first module was communications, so in the beginning because all of us came from different classes it was kind of hard to communicate with each other,” she said. “So we learned to communicate through sports, like football, and by making our own games. It helps us in a lot of ways. Now we are on our second module, which is discipline.”

Of her participation in CAP activities, Butler informed, “Right now we’re planting peanuts, so after they’re finishing growing, we’re going to make peanut butter, label, and market it.”

Baucom is aided by two teachers who train students in established A Ganar concepts. Dianne Browne teaches Phase I, which entails learning about respect, discipline, and values. Coach Wilbert Blackette helps to facilitate training lessons through the venues of sports and games.

At the donation event, Lt. Col. Harvey went into detail with The Observer about the process of acquiring the goods.

“In this case, we had two projects in one,” he informed. “We had the high school and CAP, so we were able to get US$10,000 for each - just over EC$50,000. They are complimentary projects, because they’re teaching shop classes here and it’s the same kids that are in CAP.”

Harvey, who also holds the title of Humanitarian Assistance Program Coordinator, posited that working with small projects, such as the current one, was his favorite part of the job because he was able to initiate a concept, get the money, and complete it in a matter of days.

“I’m not looking four years down the road, like I am in some programs, or two years, like I am in others,” he said. “Within two weeks we went from this just being an idea to having EC$50,000 worth of materials for the kids to work with, and it really should improve both CAP and A Ganar.”

He also informed that in addition to the goods displayed at the event, EC$12,000 worth of goods and lumber was being delivered out to the CAP farm, inclusive of a large refrigerator and a commodious stove/range for the students to carry out food processing.

Making sure to give credit to others who are currently helping the CAP program, Baucom specially noted the valued contributions of a horticultural specialist attached to the Embassy of the Republic of Taiwan in St. Kitts and Nevis.

“Mr. [Weng-hsiang] Lin of the Taiwan Mission is working with us on the floriculture,” she informed. “He is donating ornamentals and the rest of the materials that we need for the greenhouse. We are really looking forward to that because we want to be able to provide flowers to the hotels. I’m hoping that some of the students will be able to start their own businesses, and maybe win some contracts to beautify the island with some of the skills that they’ll be learning from Mr. Lin.”

Baucom also envisioned CAP participation in future programs, including work with solar energy and windmills.