National Committee for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (NCPADD) St. Lucia conducted its Leadership and Membership Training Workshop at University of Southern Caribbean, Sunny Acres on Sunday January 15, 2023.
It is traditional for NCPADD to host similar training workshops during Caribbean Drug Awareness Week every year in January.
The purpose of the workshop was to develop and strengthen the skills of its management team and support staff, as well as members of its community in-action groups and affiliate.
Twenty-seven persons participated in the workshop, including six department vice presidents and four community in-action groups:
IMPACT (Mon Repos),
Pearl of Hope (Gros Islet),
Essence of Youth (Marigot), and
Design to Transform Lives (Castries).
The affiliate organization St. Lucia Jr PRIDE was represented by Mr. Julian Jackson. Participants came from Gros Islet, Babonneau, Castries, Marigot and Micoud.
The workshop was facilitated by four external facilitators and one NCPADD member. Guest speaker, Mrs. Catherine Inglis-Leon, Coordinator of University of Southern Caribbean – St. Lucia Campus addressed participants on the value of Volunteerism.
Facilitators applied a practical approach to the focus of NCPADD in their presentations:
Decision-Making Process, Mrs. Catherine Inglis-Leon, University of Southern Caribbean – St. Lucia Campus
Community Mobilization, SPC 98 David Henry, Canaries Police Station, Royal St. Lucia Police Force
Accounting for NGOs, Mrs. Lucretia Benjamin-Augustin, Accountant, C.O. Williams Construction Ltd.
Communication, Mrs. Philomene Moses, Lecturer, Sir Arthur Community College
Administration: Its Effective Role in An Organization, Ms. Joanna Joseph, Trainer, KM² Solutions St. Lucia
Participants lauded the approaches utilized by the facilitators. We are deeply grateful to the facilitators for their prompt positive responses to volunteer their professional services to NCPADD and for empowering our membership.
This is only one of a series of training workshops to be held within this quarter. Some workshop sessions will be conducted virtually.
NCPADD currently functions from one hundred percent volunteerism and depends solely on the generosity of individuals and business community through their sustainable development initiatives or social responsibility engagements.
Our capacity building training programs, by extension, are beneficial to the business sector and the wider society given that our skill-based training and personal development are transferable into the workplace.
We are very thankful to University of Southern Caribbean for use of their facility and Blue Waters Limited for providing bottled water for our training workshop.
A presentation of spa treatment gift certificates was made at the training workshop to participants of our panel programs. Two panel programs were held in 2022.
The topic “Youth & Crime: The link between drug use and crime” was presented on November 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Panel discussion “Drugs & Consequences” was held on December 1 (World AIDS Day) highlighting the link between substance abuse and unhealthy practices that lead to negative consequences.
We thank our sponsors for their immediate willingness to provide a healthy package to panel program participants. Spa treatments were compliments of:
Rainforest Spa at Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort (Soufriere)
Ti Spa, Calabash Cove Resort & Spa (Bonair, Marisule)
Spa in Water Garden, StolenTime by Rendezvous (Malabar Beach)
Bamboo Spa, Coco Palm Resort (Rodney Bay)
Beauty Spot (Dennery)
Tica’s Miracle Touch Skin Therapy Spa (Sarrot)
We are immensely grateful to the facilitators, participants and all sponsors. Such contributions are pivotal to the success of our programs and our vision to inspire and empower all to make healthy choices.
SOURCE: National Committee for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug DependencyÂ
