Saint Lucia Ministry of Health launches Spotlight on Taiwan’s Train the Trainers workshop

Saint Lucia: The Spotlight on Taiwan’s Train the Trainers Lantern Design and Construction Virtual Workshop was launched on September 6 at the Cultural Development Foundation conference room. Now in its second week, the program focuses on technique, lantern design using eco-friendly materials, and luminosity.

The collaboration between the Cultural Development Foundation and the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) promotes the development of lantern-making crafts in Saint Lucia. Artisans who participated in the annual lantern competition in previous years are provided with the skills required to teach lantern making.

Executive Director of the CDF, Raymona Henry-Wynne, said the program also provides employment opportunities.

“The knowledge gained throughout the four weeks will not just stay with the participants. We host an annual lantern festival, and we will utilize the skills of those individuals to go out to the communities and schools to impact others. We have done it in the past, but we are equipping them with new skills and best practices this year.”

The theme for the program was Learn to Impact – Bringing Forth Light through Intercultural Exchange in the Traditions of Lantern Making. The four-week program is being facilitated virtually by lantern-making experts in Taiwan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information Minister, Dr Ernest Hilaire, thanked the Republic of China Government for their continued support.

“If you unlock the creativity of a people, which is what these initiatives are doing, we become a richer society; we solve our problems better, we achieve more. When I was asked why I insisted on having a carnival, I said we cannot continue to suffocate the creativity of our people. We need to assert our personality once more as a nation.”

The training workshops are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the CDF conference room in the north and the Vieux Fort Secondary school in the south.

While classes in the north of the island for filled to capacity, individuals are encouraged to participate in the south of the island.