TOBAGO SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IMPAIRED LAUNCHES AGRO-SCIENCE PROJECT
Student Amrit Williams gets comfortable holding one of the rabbits on the farm at the Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired, bringing smiles to the faces of project stakeholders at the school’s agro-science project launch. From left to right: Penny Gomez, Chief Executive Officer, Digicel Foundation; Amrit Williams; Prior Alexander, Handyman, Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired; Jason Matthews, General Manager-Digicel Plus, Digicel Trinidad and Tobago Limited; Desha Clifford, Chairperson, Digicel Foundation; Ann Second, Technical Advisor, Division of Education, Research and Technology.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 26, 2023: PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – “At last this special day has come,” were the opening words of Special Education Teacher II Ms. Davoren Toppin-John at the launch of The Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired’s agro-science project on April 19. By establishing a working farm for teaching agriculture on the school’s compound in Bon Accord, Tobago, the agro-science project brings the school a step closer to achieving its mission of nurturing secure, self-sufficient individuals who can contribute confidently to society regardless of their impairments.
The agro-science project ensures that students will know how to grow their own food for survival, as well as develop the skills to become farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. The school’s farm includes pens for rearing animals, areas for fish and short-term crops and an area for the processing and packaging of products. These facilities will also allow the school to start its aquaponics and horticulture programmes, including training in packaging and distribution of seasonings. Cordella Pantin, Principal of the Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired indicated that, “…at the end of the project the students would have learnt different means of earning a living through the knowledge, skills and practice in which they will be involved.”
The school secured funding for the project through a successful application to the Digicel Foundation’s Extraordinary Projects Impacting Communities (EPIC) grant. Desha Clifford, Chairperson of the Digicel Foundation Board of Directors, shared that, “We at the Digicel Foundation pride ourselves in being involved with innovative community projects like this one that are impactful, people-oriented and sustainable. Thus far, the Foundation’s EPIC programme through an investment of TT $4,396,943 has benefitted 60,544 persons across Trinidad and Tobago. Like this project, many of our partnerships have focused on supporting persons with disabilities.”
Digicel Foundation’s Chairperson Desha Clifford (centre right) cuts the ribbon on a chicken pen, launching the Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired’s agro-science project to a round of applause from the Foundation’s CEO Penny Gomez. Also present, from left to right, are Olive James, Secretary, Tobago Agricultural Society; Cordella Pantin, Principal, Tobago School for the Deaf, Speech and Language Impaired; and Ann Second, Technical Advisor, Division of Education, Research and Technology; and Misha Jackman, Finance Accountant of Digicel Foundation.
Ms. Toppin-John expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Digicel Foundation for supporting the school’s mission. She said, “Preparing these young persons with special needs to be valued in a world that already sees them as inadequate, is our daily mission at this school; we seek to provide endless opportunities and endless possibilities by incorporating a series of life skill programmes into our curriculum. This project has raised the bar and we are quite excited, grateful and ready to have our students learn and master the skill of rearing animals, which we anticipate would be an asset to them surviving and possibly making a livelihood for themselves after departing these walls.”
In addition to financial support from the Digicel Foundation, the Tobago Agricultural Society (TAS) has committed to working alongside students and staff in order to make the project a success. The project also has the approval of the Division of Education, Research and Technology (DERTech). At last week’s launch, Ann Second, Technical Advisor brought remarks on behalf of the Division of Education, Research and Technical in which she commended the school for combining pragmatism and academia in order to provide its student body with practical skills that will have a long-term positive impact.
ENDS
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