Third Training and Production Center Handed Over in Villa Mella

Third Training and Production Center Handed Over in Villa Mella
Ceuta, Villa Mella, Dominican Republic  10/4/2011

The center was built and equipped with an 11 million peso investment from the Patrimonial Fund for Reformed Companies (FONPER in Spanish). The investment included repair done to the Our Lady of the Rosary Church.

The center was built and equipped with an 11-million-peso investment from the Patrimonial Fund for Reformed Companies (FONPER in Spanish). The investment included repair done on Our Lady of the Rosary Church.

Dominican First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, officially handed over the new Progresando Training and Production Center which will carry out the task of training men and women for life and for work as it becomes the main community reference of experience in values and promotion of human dignity.

The center was built and equipped with an 11-million-peso investment from the Patrimonial Fund for Reformed Companies (FONPER in Spanish). The investment included repair done on Our Lady of the Rosary Church.

At the ceremony, Mrs. Cedeño de Fernández confirmed that they are putting this Progresando Training and Production Center in the hands of the community of Ceuta as a way of providing education because the Office of the First Lady is committed to combating poverty and marginalization by reducing inequalities in development of competitiveness.

“The huge economic and moral crises we are experiencing today further convinces us that there is only one possible way to overcome them: give people skills and abilities to convert these problems into opportunities through fundamental productive actions in the values of honesty, responsibility and solidarity. People cannot stand by with their arms crossed in the face of adversity but rather they need to display ingenuity and effort to overcome the difficulties and to help others do the same,” said the First Lady.

She added that her Office has opened the doors of progress and development to extremely poor families in Villa Mella through the Progresando program which has shown results as thousands of people are receiving orientation and training in values that allow them to look toward a more hopeful and promising future.

She said she is convinced that knowledge and training are determining factors in economic growth and social development. “The education systems and training play a fundamental role in motivating the development of knowledge and training people need to be successful in the labor market. These skills that the market demands must be complemented with the capacity to promote social participation and citizens’ commitment as well as the necessary values that support our democracy and help it function well, free of evils like crime and drug trafficking,” Cedeño de Fernández stressed.

At the event, Professor José Izquierdo, president of the Patrimonial Fund for Reformed Companies (FONPER in Spanish) said that he was pleased to be part of the initiative being developed by the First Lady to benefit families of limited resources.

The blessing of the center was done by Monsignor Lorenzo Vargas, coordinator of the Pastoral Plan. Reverend Pedro Vásquez, from Our Lady of the Rosary Parrish gave the welcoming address.  Reverend Petronila Catalino also expressed appreciation for the building of the center and Patria Antigua Castro read some words of gratitude in the name of the community’s young people.

Details on the Training Center
The Training Center has four classrooms where residents of Ceuta and surrounding communities can receive training in computer science, sewing, cooking, baking and cosmetology while students can also take theory classes in small, comfortable spaces. Community activities will be held in the gazebo which holds up to 100 people.

Construction of the Training and Production Center was done under the “Training for Progress” educational strategy which is part of the Progresando Program that seeks to make people the protagonists and authors of their own development and advancement, thereby contributing to the efforts of pulling people out of poverty and opening the door to opportunities so they can enjoy good health, education, living conditions and social integration.

Progresando is a program carried out by the Office of the First Lady which seeks to help poor families in their process of comprehensive development through orientation, information, training and raising awareness about access to the programs and services offered by the government and civil society for the guarantee of their fundamental rights.

With the completion of this center, there are now 23 functioning throughout the country. They are in Santo Domingo, sectors of Cristo Rey, Villa Juana, Capotillo, Herrera, Villa Duarte, Manoguayabo, as well as the communities of Remanzo and Los Guaricanos in Villa Mella, in Andrés and Los Botados of Boca Chica. There are several in Don Juan, Yamasá and in the head municipality of Monte Plata, in Vicente Noble, Barahona, Samaná, Santiago, Jarabacoa, Mao, El Seibo, as well as Villa Altagracia and Favidrio in San Cristóbal.

Patria Antigua Castro expresses gratitude in the name of the young people in the community.

The First Lady looks at some of the arts and crafts made by the women of the Progresando program.

The First Lady tours the kitchen where cooking classes will be given.

The First Lady giving her speech at the new Training Center.

First Lady, Margarita Cedeño and the president of FONPER, cut the ribbon to officially inaugurate the Center.

The First Lady unveils the Training Center’s plaque.