HEART/NSTA Trust Certifies 148 Young Jamaicans In Roof Repair After Hurricane Melissa

HEART/NSTA Trust has certified 148 young Jamaicans as roof repair specialists through its Building Resilience and Inspiring Development through Guided Experience (BRIDGE) Programme.

The apprenticeship model was created after Hurricane Melissa and placed trainees in practical work settings, where they helped repair storm-damaged houses in western Jamaica.

Dr. Cheryl McLaughlin, Deputy Managing Director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, told JIS News that the programme focused on young people enrolled in construction-related training whose communities and institutions had been affected by the hurricane. The trainees came from several HEART/NSTA Trust campuses, among them Seaford Town and Petersfield in Westmoreland and Newport in Manchester.

As part of the recovery effort, participants worked in live construction environments with Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) teams and other technical workers in St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, St. James and Westmoreland. Their field assignments were supported by instructors and industry professionals who guided the skills development process.

Dr. McLaughlin said the programme also used classroom teaching to connect the practical roof-repair tasks with the technical knowledge behind them. “So, they were in the field…looking at how they needed to measure or how they needed to put the zinc sheets and so on. Then they got a chance to go back to the classroom and consolidate what they did in the field to the theory that was behind it,” she pointed out.

She said the BRIDGE Programme produced results beyond certification, as the trainees helped repair approximately 64 homes. “We gave the trainees an opportunity to develop skills, but we restored the dignity of families by putting them back in their houses. And that, I thought, was just the most valuable component of that BRIDGE Programme,” Dr. McLaughlin said.

According to Dr. McLaughlin, apprenticeship-type training helps participants learn more strongly because they apply what they know while delivering visible support to their communities.

She told JIS News that HEART/NSTA Trust intends to certify additional roof repair specialists, as the skill is expected to be important in future disaster response. “We’re now in the hurricane season and sadly, the possibility is there that we may be impacted by another system, and we want to ensure that we have persons in the workforce who will be able to readily respond to those emergencies,” she said.