Nine West Coast Demerara women will be able to improve their culinary skills through a cooking course organized by the police in ‘D’ Division and held at the Madina’s Halaal Restaurant at De Willem.
The practical session commenced on Wednesday with the women “working along with the chefs” to gain firsthand experience in preparing a variety of Creole dishes according to restaurant standards.
At the end of the six-week empowerment course they would be awarded certificates and would also be armed with skills to set up their own businesses.
It was held in collaboration with the Station Management Committee (SMC) as part of the division’s C-PETS project – Creating a Positive Environment through Safer Community & Partnership.
On Wednesday the women attended an introduction session at the restaurant along with members of the SMC, senior superintendent, Stephen Mansel and other senior officers.
Proprietor of the restaurant Halim ‘Noel’ Khan, a member, told this newspaper that the course is also aimed at helping the women to prepare better “Guyanese food” at home so that their children “would not want to eat too much fast food.”
The course is part of a series of training schemes that the police and SMC are conducting through the C-PETS project.
C-PETS Project
The C-PETS was launched last July at the Tuschen Market Tarmac through the initiative of senior superintendent and former commander, Ian Amsterdam. Mansel, who is the deputy commander, has taken the mantle to continue the project.
On Saturday last a staff development seminar was held at Madina’s Lecture Hall at De Willem under the theme: Embracing Change through Strategic Management, Moderniza-tion and Partnership.
The training involved a review of 2014 and the projections for 2015 in areas such as crime, traffic, court and complaints.
The need for networking with the community and building trust, fast police response, confidentiality and follow up actions was also emphasized while the Cops and Faith initiative was also reinforced.
The previous week, youth empowerment training was held at the Leonora Recreational Hall under the theme: Empowering Today’s Youths for a Better Tomorrow.
The objective of that workshop was to sensitize youth leaders in effective leadership. Participants were drawn from the church and police youth clubs.
Mansel told Stabroek News that the purpose of C-PETS is to develop a partnership with stakeholders and citizens and building bridges among faith-based organizations.
The vision is for the burden of policing to be shared through partnerships, to develop safer communities, build bridges and empower citizens to develop a sense of personal security.
Citizens would also be able to restore pride by socializing and removing social ills in their communities.
Other training for C-PETS includes music and dance programmes, drug abuse, driving courses and healthy lifestyle programmes. C-PETS targets early school leavers and young adults, unemployed youths, victims of domestic violence, child abuse and crime, communities throughout the division, schools, faith-based organization and differently-abled persons.
Meanwhile, the C-PETS Awareness Month would be launched in March and would consist of activities throughout the division including, the opening of a police outpost at Parfait Harmonie, public lectures and community interactions.
There would also be school lectures on the harmful effects of drug use.
