South Central People's Development Association

SCPDA is a developmental organization with a mandate to reduce poverty and to empower and uplift the lives of the people of South and South Central Rupununi, Guyana.

Mission

SCPDA is dedicated to securing and sustainably managing Wapichan traditional lands in Guyana and improving the livelihoods of the people in these communities through support for income generating activities, taking under its mandate aspects of natural resource management, and focusing increasingly on issues and projects with potential implications for livelihood and food security of the area.

Description

SCPDA was started in 1992 by a group of head teachers who saw the need to upgrade local teachers for the better delivery of teaching services within the South Central area and was originally named the South Central Indigenous Peoples Association (SCIPA).

Observing that there was a substantial group of young women and men within the communities with few job opportunities, they then engaged in a series of skills training programmes starting with type writing involving 21 women ages 18-25 at Dadanawa Ranch and later ran a program in brick making.

By 1996 the organization changed their name to the South Central People's Development Association (SCPDA) because it was felt that this better embraced the mixed population of the member communities. The same year, they collaborated with Building Community Capacity Project (BCCP) funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to promote hygiene and nutrition in the 10 communities of South Central Rupununi. SCPDA also further broadened its mandate to tackle issues of greater significance to the region - like Malaria outreach and livestock development.

Today, SCPDA is dedicated to securing and sustainably managing Wapichan traditional lands in Guyana and improving the livelihoods of the people in these communities through support for income generating activities, taking under its mandate aspects of natural resource management, and focusing