A four-week training workshop for workers at the Liberty Lodge Boys Training Centre began here Monday geared towards training the staff in new approaches in dealing with changes in behaviour of the boys residing at the facility.{{more}}
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of the Training Centre, Michael Akers, said the initial training programme started in October 2003 in collaboration with UNICEF’s headquarters in Barbados. He said a grant of US$20,000 was made available for the training of staff, the residents and their parents, in a wide range of social disciplines, to purchase six computers, provide computer training and to solicit the assistance of the media on a public education and awareness programme.
Akers said there is a negative stigma attached to the institution due to insufficient information being fed to the public and it is hoped that the public education programme would give a better understanding of the operations at the centre.
Senior Manager of the National Children’s Home of Barbados, Hubert Blackett, who also addressed the opening, said the boys at the Centre are going through a lot of changes and problems, and there must be changes in the approach used with them, hence the need for ongoing training.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, Rolin Stapleton, said most of the boys at the Centre are disadvantaged, have been neglected and abandoned, were abused by older persons and may be of the view that society is unkind and the world is their enemy. Thus, he pointed out, the need for workers who are sensitive and understanding in dealing with the problems existing there.
Stapleton said that presently the centre is filled to capacity, thus the government is financing the cost of operating the facility so that the residents would be made to feel appreciated and wanted. He further said that it is the responsibility of the parents to care for their children and not that of the state.
The Liberty Lodge Training Centre Village currently houses 28 boys.