New agriculture scholarship awarded to three BCC students

Three students at Barbados Community College (BCC) have received a new agriculture scholarship that will pay their registration costs for the rest of their associate degree programmes.

The Lion Roy Ward Scholarship was created by the Lions Club of Barbados North to honour their charter president. It was officially launched during a presentation ceremony on Wednesday.

The three recipients were Delano Lorde, Traude Walton and Joshua Yearwood.

Acting Senior Tutor in the College’s Division of Natural Sciences Dr Arlyn Linton-Jones, said the college and the Lions Club worked together on the scholarship over the past year.

“We have worked on this scholarship, getting all the requirements in place… where we can officially reward these students,” she said.

The scholarship was created for students pursuing agriculture, which Linton-Jones noted had not had a scholarship at the college before.

Chair of the Lions Club of Barbados North Special Projects Committee Louis Ifill said agriculture and food security were important reasons for establishing the award, and they chose agriculture in honour of the late Lion Elkins Leroy Ward, better known as Lion Roy, who dedicated much of his life to the field.

“He was deeply involved in the production of sugar cane, various ground provisions, vegetables and also dairy farming as well,” Ifill said.

He added that Ward helped develop the Sea Island cotton industry, was once the largest dairy farmer on the island, and was among the first suppliers of milk to Pine Hill Dairy.

According to Ifill, Ward was also the first appointed chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development Company and took part in a government project to start a school meals programme in 1962.

“He was also interested in seeing young people advance in agriculture; that was his passion,” Ifill said.

The three recipients were selected following a process which required applicants to have a grade point average above three and submit an essay outlining their future agricultural plans in Barbados. The Lions Club then interviewed selected students.

Ifill said the interests of the three recipients reflected the different ways agriculture is evolving.

“Someone is interested in dairy, one is interested in entomology, and one is interested in the aspects of AI in agriculture,” he said.

Daughter of Lion Roy Ward, Linda Ward-Bowen, said the scholarship was fitting given her father’s lifelong commitment to agriculture.

“One of the things he used to say all the time was ‘you should grow what you eat and eat what you grow, that way you would never starve’,” she said.

Deputy BCC Principal Samuel Bowen said the scholarship was not only financial assistance for the students but an investment in Barbados’ agricultural future.

Bowen said the award came at a significant time, with the first students officially beginning at the Hope Agricultural Training Institute in St Lucy this week.

Walton, speaking for the recipients, thanked the college staff and the Lions Club for seeing their potential and supporting their education.

“Having our registration cost covered throughout the remainder of our associate degree was a major help to us and it will allow us to focus even more on our studies,” he said.

He said the recipients hoped to use what they learn to contribute to agriculture in Barbados. (LE)