All the participants we spoke with were enthusiastic about the program and so were their mentors, Mr. Ernest Williams, the woodwork teacher, Mr. Joseph Castillo, the program coordinator, and Alva Arana ? cook and ?mommy? for the duration of sessions.

Even though we met them on Friday, August 5, 2005, under a makeshift shed on Buyei Lambey?s property, the program actually began inside the Buyei Juan Lambey Institute, but had to be temporarily relocated because the center was needed for a d?g?. However, the broader vision is to construct a permanent center on the compound so that the Learn and Earn program can become more established.

The organizers emphasize not just their continued commitment for the sustainability of the program, but also the importance of community support.

?You have to build sustainability into a program otherwise good ideas just go to waste,? said Eugene Hernandez, one of the founders of the program.

But perhaps the most convincing argument for why all parties should fight to establish a sustainable Learn and Earn program is what the participants themselves have to say about it.

Single mother of 6, Marcella Arana, 26, has made a toilet paper holder, a cutting board, a small boat and a grater, among other things, and she wants to make her mata and wooden drums next.

?I want to continue it because I am a single parent and I don?t have any job. So I want to live off it, to continue on, to make more to sell,? she expressed.

Her children are ages 13, 10, 6, 4, 2 and 5 months old. She said that this is the first time she has made these craft.

?It?s not really hard to learn?? she said, adding that she had made 8 different pieces of craft since the program began.

Some students told us that they plan to sell their craft and use the money to pay their registration fees and tuition and buy their schoolbooks.

Glendi Martinez, 13, who is moving on to Standard V at Sacred Heart School, plans to sell what she had made to pay her registration fees.

Lisa Ariola, 14, had not been attending school, but plans to start Delille Academy in September. She told us that she plans to give the money to her mother to pay for her registration and buy books.

Helen Ariola, 16, Lisa?s sister, does not plan to attend school, but wants to continue making the craft for a living. Having been one of the most productive and artistic participants in the program, Helen had made a chopping board, a grater, 3 cups, 2 drums, 4 calabash bowls, 1 toilet paper holder, a boat and two shakas (sisira).

According to Mr. Williams, it was Helen who came up with the idea for them to make wooden chopping boards and she plans to make a glass insert for hers.

?I want to continue the work,? she declared, but admitting that she needs more training.

Another highly praised participant is Robert Alvarez, 13. From wood, he has made a boat, a toilet paper holder, a fish, a grater, and a flag, and from bamboo, he has made a cup and ornamental drums. He plans to sell his egi (grater) for $35. It took him 3 days to hammer in the tiny pieces of stones that give the egi its shredding power.

For most of the participants, this was their first time dabbling with woodworks and craft making.

Glendi Martinez described the process of making her boat: ?First you have to draw it and then cut it and then you smooth it and you put on the sanding sealer so that it comes smoother.?

Glendi has fortunately gotten some hands-on help from her mother while attending the program, but she had gone to the market on Friday.

Bernice Diaz, another participant, had challenged herself by varying the model of the boat that they have been given to make. Instead of two sails, she is doing three plus multiple decks, which she said she could not have done without the help of Mr. Williams.

She has also made a Garifuna doll, which she gave to her friend from Colorado who visited to learn more about the Garifuna culture. She plans to keep her other crafts as souvenirs.

Buyei Lambey said that the original idea was to focus on single mothers and teenagers who are not in school. He said that even though they did not get the anticipated financial support from the community needed to pull off the program as they had originally planned it, they decided to make do with what they had.

According to Castillo, PACT was the biggest supporter. Dangriga branch of Social Security, Dangriga branch of Scotia Bank, Tropic Air, and NICH also supported them.

?There were big people that they expected to help that did not come through: the Citrus Company of Belize and most of the banks did not support the program, but we are still approaching others, because they want to continue the program,? Castillo elaborated.

Buyei Lambey added: ?We would like to continue, because we don?t want these children to be discouraged because you see it in them that they have really made up their mind that they will learn something for themselves and as the name of this little group, we call it ?Learn and Earn? so whatever they sell that will be for them to buy their little school books before school reopens.?

Mr. Hernandez said that the training has been eco-friendly. He told us that not only have the participants been able to learn a skill, but they have also learned vital information about their own environment and the ecology of the plants from which they get their raw materials.

He and Castillo explained that the participants have learned about the ecology of things such as the calabash tree, the right time for reaping, how to protect their natural resources and what a mahogany looks like in the wild.

?People want a better way of life. Everybody wants a better way of life. So don?t tell me when people in Dangriga tell me, Oh Stann Creek people, they don?t? want to do anything, they don?t want anything good. That?s not true,? Hernandez expressed.

Augustine Sabal of Small Farmer-Owned Business Enterprises, also one of the originators of the program, said that the children want to do something different from schoolwork. During the summer, they try to find somewhere to go and he realized that the craft-making trade has to be passed on to the younger generation, so he wants the program to continue.

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