Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross holds VCA training

Following their stakeholders meeting which was held on March 6, 2008 the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross invited representatives from various organizations to be part of a Vulnerability, Capacity and Assessment (VCA) training programme.

When disasters occur, the community, non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and the government are affected.

VCA is a tool that helps the Red Cross not only in improving their planning skills, but to better understand the work that they do based on their own capacities.

VCA also ensures that the Red Cross works with communities and other organizations to enhance their capabilities in dealing with vulnerabilities.

The training was held at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary Visitors Centre from April 3-5, 2008 and 25 people attended and completed the training.

There were five people on the training team which included Nicole Williams, Nathan Cooper (DM delegate with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies), Augustus Forde, Akeisha Benjamin and Christian Skerrit (all from the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross).

The communities chosen for the VCA training were the very rural villages of Bamboo #1, 2 and 3 of central Trinidad. These communities are all situated next to each other and experience similar problems of flooding and landslides among others.

The training was very successful and all the participants enjoyed the sessions. Some of them commented that “the programme was excellent in that there were the teaching and practical aspects that exposed participants to the full extent of the programme.” Others felt that it was “an eye opener to the needs and solutions to assist communities.”