By Carlena Knight
“Being your authentic self” was one of the many mantras reiterated at the 2022 Future is HER workshop yesterday at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.
The initiative was a joint effort with the Princess Margaret School (PMS) Guidance Counsellor Department and an institute from Barbados, the LeadHERship institute, which focuses on empowering teenage girls from several secondary schools across the island, and equipping them with life skills that they can use to achieve their goals.
LeadHERship representative, Roshanna Trim, spoke with this newsroom on the significance of an event like this one.
“It’s super important because we still exist in a culture that socialises girls in some ways to be less, and kind of dim themselves, because we don’t want them to seem rude or sassy, but also there is a level of confidence required, and I remember being young, and even some of the young women on the teams working alongside us here and in Barbados, said that they wanted certain things when they were younger to help them to be confident.
“So instead of waiting until you’re 20 to learn that, or until you’re 25 to try and get into a career, or already going through your career, why not start from when you are in school? Why not teach them how to speak properly? How to speak boldly. Not to apologise for just saying ‘no.’ How to make sure that they know that there are women rooting for them, who are older than them, and who want to give them the tools and equip them with the tools in taking on the world,” Trim said.
A similar program was held in Barbados on Tuesday as well.
It is in commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child which was recognised yesterday.
The all-day event saw sessions like the Inspire Her segment to boost their self-esteem, a confidence club, an In HER bag sitting geared towards teaching them about proper budgeting practices, and a Let’s Talk period focusing on sexual and reproductive health.
Senator Gail Christian gave the feature address.
Other speakers included Entrepreneur Zoe Teague, Gender Affairs advocate and writer, Linisa George, and Communications Officer Angelica O’Donoghue.
Navida Edwards, guidance counsellor at PMS, and one of the organisers of the event, shared her excitement with the success of the workshop which saw 26 young females in attendance.
She says the plan is to have the event every year and to even organise a similar seminar for the boys.
“We will be planning for the boys which will be taking place in May. It’s just all kinds of excitement in the counselling department, Ms. King and I, we just sat and said what can we do this year and we came up with a number of ideas. We are always looking for new ideas, new initiatives and we have a few other programs that we intend to run,” Edwards said.
One of those programs is an entrepreneurial initiative which they will invite other secondary schools to as well.