Single young mothers under the SMILES programme continue to reap benefits from local company Celestial.
Regional Communications Limited’s Cellestial is a local manufacturer of tablets, computers and cellular phones for export and domestic consumption.
Celestial continues to fulfil its corporate responsibility by supporting the government’s Single Mothers in Life Enhancement Skills (SMILES) programme.
During a tour this week of Celestial with Minister for the Public Service, Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology, Dr. James Fletcher, owner of Celestial George Benson explains how SMILES participants benefit from the daily operations of his company.
“Everybody you’ll be meeting is a single mother through the SMILES programme. So they are kind of a recruiting company for us. They will be chosen for an initial three-week training. If they are really good, they go on to become an apprentice for six months. And then after that they go on to international certification. International certification is done through institutes in the UK and the United States.”
After attaining accreditation, participants will continue to gain success. Benson notes the progress the single mothers have made and the scope for further opportunities. Cellestial has also aided in the island’s education system.
“And we just went through a session here where seven of our ladies were internationally certified - five at level one cellular engineer and two at level three cellular engineers. So they have the freedom, options and accreditation to do anything they want in their lives right now. One of our ladies was the leader, Saint Lucian leader for the Duke of Edinburgh Award that just ended in Barbados after one month; so we sponsored her there. Then we adopted Vide Bouteille Secondary. And now we have adopted Vide Bouteille Combined. And they get a free laptop every month.”
The company which was established in February this year has received the Prime Minister’s Award for Innovation and won among thousands of regional participants in Compete Caribbean’s $1.3 million grant competition.