THE BOTTOM- The Queen Wilhelmina Library (QWL) in collaboration with the Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) will be hosting a comprehensive entrepreneurship workshop for students starting next week.

The workshop, designed to encourage and enhance the skills of Saba’s young entrepreneurs, will provide participants with the knowledge and skill required to be a successful entrepreneur, as well as information on what is required to start a business.

During the workshop, which will last a few weeks, students will be taught the most essentials tools needed to open a business. The sessions will be taught by business teacher Suzette Fletcher and hosted by the QWL. The sessions will also have guest speakers from the Saba community who will tell the kids their experiences and how they started their business. 

Project coordinator Tiffany Zagers of the QWL explained that last year, the library was made aware that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), along with the Royal Library of the Netherlands (‘Koninklijke Bibliotheek’) would be making a grant available for the six Dutch Caribbean islands. The “Reading Offensive Grant” mainly targets boys 18 years and under. Islands had to submit a project proposal in order to receive funding.

“For our project we decided to use the funds for: the purchasing of games for outside of the library, such as giant chess and checkers, as well as indoor board games, additional reading material and to host an entrepreneurship workshop for teens,” said Zagers.

Own business

The QWL reached out to the SCS for cooperation with regard to the entrepreneur workshop. “We decided that the best way to reach the teens on Saba, especially teen boys, to teach them the skills needed for them to start their own business, if they decided that this is what they would like to do in the future, was to collaborate with the Saba Comprehensive School,” said Zagers.

“We are extremely grateful to be able to receive this grant from the Ministry of OCW and the Royal Library. We are happy to be working together with school and we are hoping to collaborate more in the near future,” said Zagers.