The Lady in Me and My Brother’s Keeper Mentorship Programmes 

#TurksandCaicos, March 27, 2023 – The Department of Social Development and Welfare, Ministry of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication hosted its annual mentorship programme workshops on Grand Turk and North Caicos on February 23rd and 24th 2023 at the HJ Robinson High School for the boys and February 28, 2023, at the Salem Baptist Church Fellowship Hall for the girls. North Caicos The Lady in Me workshop was held on 17 February 2023 for the girls. Both programmes targeted at-risk adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years old.

The themes for Grand Turk My Brother’s Keeper programme were “Walking with Purpose” and The Lady in Me -You are Royal. On North Caicos The Lady in Me Workshop was held under the theme “Taking Control of the Power to say NO.”

Our main objective for the workshops stemmed from childhood and adolescence years being critical periods of growth and development and the need to impact positive values, morals and thought processes in our young people. Therefore, it is pertinent that a lot of focus be placed on promoting our healthy physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being. By examining the adolescence values, competencies, belief systems, inner feelings, motivations, critical thinking, and communication skills, they can build their self-awareness and interpersonal relationships to strengthen their self-esteem. Participants became more self-aware to create a sense of pride and enhance self-respect, self-worth, and self-esteem as they mature and improve personally and professionally.

Public figure influencers were chosen to educate and enforce these important development areas within our adolescents.

In Grand Turk, the presenter and topic areas for My Brother’s Keeper were:

Mr. Temard Butterfield – Positive Values and Attitude

Andre Morgan – Respect and Boundaries

Pastor Devron Thomas- Decision making and Consequences.

Police officer Francois – Conflict resolution

Leonardo Lightbourne – How to develop Healthy Self-Esteem

Pastor Terry Tanis – Dealing with family problems.

Mr. Leonardo Lightbourne – Planning for personal success

In Grand Turk, the presenter and topic areas for The Lady in Me workshop were: 

Pastor Ruth Ariza – Positive Values and Attitude

Mrs. Ashley Forbes – Respect for boundaries and authority 

Mrs. Tonya Greaves – Building and Maintaining Health Relationships

Mrs. Caroline Dickenson – Decision Making and Consequences

Mrs. Praveen Chassang – Personal Development

In North Caicos, the presenter and topic areas were: 

Ms. Synobia Forbes – Who Am I?

Ms. Denrika Youth and Jenna Waite – Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence, and Self- Love

​*Ms. Nichole Gardiner – Your sexuality, promiscuous behaviour, and its consequences

*Mrs. Kacy Higgs – Decision making and forgiveness

The participants actively engaged with the presenters. Most of adolescence felt the sessions were beneficial. A total of 50 adolescent girls and 15 adolescent boys were impacted.

The Lady in Me workshop in Providenciales will be held on 26 and 27 April 2023 at the Gustavus Sports Complex. A total of 100 girls is intended to be impacted. UNICEF will be sponsoring this programme.