LATP would like to share a sucess story from two of our recent female graduates from the LATP Firefighting and Carpentry Courses.

Mary Adele Andrew - a 23 year old carpentry student. This project has given Mary a chance to develop skills that allow her to be creative. Mary is a regular member of the crew. Mary, who was pregnant during a portion of the training, was not prohibited from finishing the program and her ambition has proven beneficial. "Two weeks and I was back to work. I had alot of help from my Mom" Mary says she had done some work like this before, enough to know she was interested in learning more. And throughout the course she discovered that framing is her favourite part of the building process. Mary is presently working under a LATP Wage Subsidy Program with the Innu Development Limited Partnership.

Mary Charlotte Michel was the only female trainee in the Firefighting Training Course, that was provided by the Labrador Aboriginal Training Partnership through the Safety and Emergency Response Training Centre, Fisheries and Marine Institute. Mary Charlotte is very excited about being able to serve her home community of Sheshatshiu, and is all too aware of the devastating effects of fire to the people of her community. Mary Charlotte said that while it was tough, she got through it a little better than some of her male counterparts. For her, the hardest part was leaving her kids to go to training but she is proud to be part of the new fire department. "We've had some great instructors here" she said. "I will miss them all and I love them all." Mary Charlotte is presently working at the Sheshatshiu Fire Department.