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Prevention with Purpose, Turks & Caicos Marks Child Abuse Prevention Month
#TurksandCaicos, April 3, 2023 – The Department of Social Development & Welfare, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication observes the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention. The Department will be embarking on several initiatives throughout the month in its guest to promote Zero Tolerance of Child Abuse in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The theme for this year is “Thriving Children and Families: Prevention with Purpose.” The Department is calling on all individuals and organizations to play a role in making the TCI a better place by safeguarding our children from all forms of abuse.
Honorable Otis Morris, Minister with responsibility for Social Development & Welfare said, “The month of April is a time to celebrate the important role that communities play in protecting children and strengthening families. The Department will be extending the observance throughout the year and we are calling for unity which is essential in building communities and hope. Prevention is always better than intervention or cure.”
The TCI is known for its natural beauty and hospitable locals and has been rated as a safe haven for visitors. Likewise, efforts are being made to ensure that this is the reality for children through programmes and partnerships to stymie the issue of child abuse, spearheaded by the Ministry.The Department of Social Development is playing its part by providing ongoing parenting training to ensure parents have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to care for their children. Additionally, programmes are in place to help promote the social and emotional well-being of children and youth as well as prevent child maltreatment within families and communities.
Everyone’s participation in the fight against child abuse is critical. Focusing on ways to connect with families is the best thing our community can do to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. Research shows that when parents possess protective factors, the risk for neglect and abuse diminish and optimal outcomes for children, youth, and families are promoted. Major protective factors include knowledge of parenting, knowledge of child development, parental resilience, social connections, and concrete supports. Through this knowledge, families are able to navigate during difficult times to shield them from life’s stresses.
The month of April is also known worldwide as Autism Awareness Month. Awareness is only the minimum. People know that persons with autism exist in the TCI, but persons with autism are a long way from being appreciated as the unique human beings they are. Children with autism are susceptible to abuse as well because most are either verbal or nonverbal and people can take advantage of them because of this. We as a society must protect this vulnerable population and ensure that the relevant policies, laws and intervention is in place to support persons with
autism into becoming independent upstanding individuals in this world. The Turks and Caicos Island has made small strides to provide intervention to children with Autism but we still have a long way to go in terms of having consistent Speech and Occupational therapy and Applied Behavior Analysist (ABA) offered in the homes and school by specialized professionals in the field in country.
The Department will be hosting the following activities:
(1) Child Abuse Prevention Opening Church Service- April 2, 2023 at Jericho Baptist Church- Providenciales, Revival Faith Center The Potters House Church- Grand Turk, Church of God of Prophesy- North Caicos, Wesley Memorial Methodist Church- South Caicos
(2) Community Drive Thru’ – Providenciales
(3) March Against Child Abuse and Balloon Release – April 21 & 28, 2023
(4) Lunch and Learn session with Teachers on South Caicos – Rap session with teachers as they are educated about mandatory reporting, types of abuse, how to fill out the MASH form.
Mark your calendar!
✓ Poster Competition in schools – Child Abuse
✓ Presentations at Schools- Weekly
✓ Presentations at Health Centers
✓ Pinwheel garden display (Public to posted on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok)
The Department of Social Development is calling on all individuals and organizations to play their part in this national and timely initiative. Child abuse prevention should be on the agenda for everyone.
If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, it is critical to get the child help. A person can report suspicion to the nearest Police Station or to the Department of Social Development. The following is a list of telephone contacts for Social Workers throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
