St. John Bosco journeys to new shores! From April 8 – 11, Peter Daniels (the Programs Manager for St. John Bosco Meats and a Bosco Old Boy), was invited to the island of St. Kitts to train a cohort of four local butchers on behalf of St. John Bosco Vocational Training Centre as it relates to modern meat cutting techniques. This Meat Cutting Training Course was put on by the St. Kitts and Nevis Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). As stated by the IICA, the programme was aimed at “empowering local butchers and strengthen[ing] the porcine industry in St. Kitts and Nevis.” This monumental partnership has expanded the scope of St. John Bosco’s training programmes to include not just the Jamaican population but now also that of the wider Caribbean region.
Mr. Daniels, who has over 30 years of experience in meat processing, spent 3 days teaching trainees in an on-site abattoir about key meat cutting techniques, safety measures, primal and retail cuts and more. Though the trainees were already working as butchers in local businesses, they did not have experience in meat cutting; only in the slaughtering of animals. Students learned how to cut beef, pork, and specialty cuts and, in true Bosco fashion, were engaged in practical, hands-on activities throughout the entire programme. Towards the end of the training, trainees presented their cuts to the owner of a major local supermarket who was very impressed. They also received certificates of completion to mark their achievement.
Overall the Department of Agriculture, the IICA and the students themselves all gave extremely positive feedback about the delivery of the programme. They are confident that high quality training opportunities such as these will go a long way towards upskilling their country’s population and improving their local industry’s standards. As such, there are promising discussions being held within the nation’s Department of Agriculture to arrange for another cohort of trainees to travel to Jamaica in order to receive more SJB butcher training. This and other opportunities will help to develop SJB’s status as a leading vocational skills provider – both at home and abroad.
