By Anselma Aimable
Caribbean Net News St Lucia Correspondent
Email: anselma@caribbeannetnews.com

CASTRIES, St Lucia: The Iyanola Council for the Advancement of Rastafarians (ICAR) will be hosting a Building Capacity Workshop to commemorate the birthday of Leonard Percival Howell. The event will take place June 15 - 16, 2007. Howell was a founding father of the Rastafarian religion and he spearheaded the famous communal Pinnacle Farm in Jamaica.

The theme for the workshop is "Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organization and Centralization." Some of the topics to be discussed include:

Day 1.
1. Building self-awareness and self-esteem.
2. Building leadership skills.
3. Communication and team building.
4. How to run an organization.
5. Understanding and managing conflict.

Day 2.
1. Reflections on Haile Selassie's speech on leadership.
2. Reflections on the leadership qualities of Leonard Percival Howell.
3. Volunteer management.

Leonard Howell was a firm believer and advocate of the Rastafarian religion. Due to the hard-line preaching of his faith, he was tried for sedition and imprisoned for a two year period. Nevertheless the Rastafarian religion continued to develop in his absence.

Throughout his life, Howell was always in conflict with the authorities in Jamaica, the trade unions, the police, the established churches and the colonial authorities. Regardless of these issues, the Rastafarian religion has prospered and presently the faith exists worldwide.

Though Howell was jailed, ridiculed and labeled as insane, he taught enslaved people how to free themselves and be a proud black nation.

Aaron Alexander Ras Iron, Vice- President of ICAR told Caribbean Net News it is for that reason that Howell's birthday is very significant and it is being celebrated.