History

St. Francis Community Developers (SFCD) takes its name from a quaint old Roman Catholic Church that is located adjacent to the group’s headquarters in Rose Hall, Corentyne, Berbice. The church, rich in history and well regarded for nurturing its youths, itself is named after perhaps the most famous Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier, whose 500th birth anniversary will be observed in 2006.

The SFCD, formerly the St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Youth Club, was established in 1986. But its success in the first ten years as a Youth Club, with its original emphasis on sports and religion, and the acknowledgement by its executive that there was a far greater need in its constituencies, soon dictated that the group should be restructured to take into account new realities.

Specifically, the series of steps the organisation took to redefine itself were:

a) removing its limitation in terms of leadership and independence from the Roman Catholic Church.
b) removing its youth-orientated objectives and to setting mandates that reflected its involvement on a daily basis.
c) developing its capacity to deal with present realities and implementing a responsive management system.
d) streamlining involvements and creating formal programmes to strengthen the possibilities for growth and sustainability.
e) establishing different departments to manage various aspects of the organisation’s diverse activities with leadership shared by all.
f) creating a professional environment for the skills training programmes of the organisation.
g) establishing the foundations for economic ventures to create self-sustainability.
h) raising the professional and academic level of all members and volunteers

When those strategies were achieved, at least in principal, the Club set a new course for development activities. The success of the Club then was measured by human involvement, community participation, results received from investments and the success contributing to the reduction of poverty and bridging the gap between those who have and those who do not have.

The St. Francis Community Developers has a definitive feature in its voracious appetite for success. The success of its past projects ensured that the Club’s confidence to be continuously planning new ventures, seeking the necessary funding and technical support, winning community approval and implementing same with inputs from residents, is always at its peak.

With the redefinition of focus, the group was re-launched on January 1, 2003 as the St Francis Community Developers. The name change was influenced by a former American Peace Corps volunteer, Mr. Jeff Coates, who believed that the NGO was not reflecting its capacity and involvement. The SFCD has since taken a quantum leap and now has assumed the mandate of serving a wider target group. While it has maintained its religious foundation, and continues to forge stronger family values, the SFCD now has 16 sub-stations in Region Six which offer a range of services including the empowerment of young people through firm financial planning and support, groundbreaking community work in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, and providing support for at-risk families and children.

It recognition of its own limitations and the absolute necessity of networking to provide the kind of services that would enhance the County of Berbice, the SFCD collaborates with 21 other non-governmental organisations called Friends of St. Francis (FOSF). A few of them, like the Swing Star Community Developers at No. 58 Village, and the FACT group at Corriverton, are pioneer organisations that have specific areas of focus.

In addition, the group works with the foreign missions of several countries as well as international donors, local and international agencies. These entities have contributed sustainable resources to the work of the NGO and have supported its various programmes. The resources include hundreds of millions of dollars as well as commodity assistance.

The SFCD’s wingspan is wide, stretching from the East Bank Berbice River to the border town of Corriverton. It also does work in West Berbice. Along the single main road in Berbice, evidence of the group’s pioneering work dots the landscape of the Ancient County. Several centres, strategically positioned so that members of the community can access their services, and small houses that the SFCD has constructed for the disadvantaged, are just some of the tangible manifestations of the scope of the group’s work. The extension of the orphanage at Port Mourant and the provision of $1M worth of supplies from former West Indies Captain, Carl Hooper and his wife, through the auspices of SFCD, are other achievements Berbicians are quick to highlight.

The SFCD’s two-flat headquarters at Rose Hall - a stone’s throw away from the vibrant Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, one of the arms of the SFCD – houses several offices and cubicles on both floors, and offers an array of services including:

• rapid testing for HIV/AIDS;
• closed-door counselling and an open room for those who balk at closed-door sessions;
• a condom-vending machine;
• a child-friendly corner;
• a micro-credit office;
• computer and internet facilities that can be used for garnering HIV/AIDS material free of cost with authorisation from an SFCD counsellor;
• a resource centre and library with one of the more updated newspaper archives;
• a hairdressing salon;
• a bookstore with photocopying facilities;
• a 75-seater restaurant on the top flat;
• A distribution centre for outreach activities.

The latter two are but a couple of the initiatives the organisation uses to generate funds to assist in covering its expenses.

No space is wasted in the building: concepts are crammed into every nook and cranny. The walls are adorned with the many awards the SFCD has won over the years, as well as mementoes from the travels of its members. The wooden information racks, bookshelves and other pieces of furniture, as well as the floral decorations were constructed by participants of the group’s skills training workshops. Smack in the middle on the ground floor is the huge conference table where far-reaching decisions are made at weekly meetings of the group and its affiliates. The current worth of the organisation’s head office is in excess of G$40M.

Given its humble beginnings, the SFCD today boasts a unique history of success, skills, national and international exposure and awards for its work. Among those are the Commonwealth Youth Service Awards in 1992, 1994 and 2000, making the SFCD the only organisation to have secured this award on three occasions.

But winning the Commonwealth Best Practices Award in 2005 from among organisations in 54 countries, most of which do not operate in the kind of social, political and economic environment that St Francis does, has been a major source of pride and an added stimulant for the group to continue its charitable, empowering ways.

Admirably confronting the challenges associated with multi-ethnic, poor, rural communities in a developing country, the SFCD has honed the skills at its disposal to secure funding for a variety of programmes and execution of projects aimed at raising the social and economic status of residents of Guyana. Suicides, illiteracy, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and drug and alcohol abuse are among some of the major problems facing Guyanese.

With the group’s village vision now in the process of becoming a reality, the SFCD has set itself another groundbreaking goal – to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show through Oprah’s Angel Network. Those familiar with the group’s endeavours and successes have no doubt that the mission will be accomplished.

Behind the dynamism and success of the SFCD is a corps of dedicated persons, led by President, Alex Foster. There are nineteen full-time staffers and more than 40 volunteers working out of the group’s headquarters, who together reflect the diversity of ethnicities in the region.

What I am is God’s gift to me and what I make of myself is my gift to God