Janet Silvera, Gleaner Writer
Attorney Lorna Phillips (right) gets hug from mom Marion. Phillips was celebrating at her birthday with a party with a
difference at Farringdon Drive, Jacks Hill, on Sunday, February 26. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A YOUNG PROSECUTOR, an advocate of the mentally ill and a budding poet made
up the list of women who took centre stage at a special ceremony on International Women's Day at the Kiwanis Club of Providence on Wednesday.
The women, reigning Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Sashane McDonald, Nurse Joy Crooks, of the Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI), and Miss St. James 2001, Nattecia Bohardsingh, joined hands with the vibrant females of Providence in
recognising the significant
contribution of Jamaican women.
McDonald, a prosecutor with the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court, Criminal Division, who was guest speaker, paid tribute to the unsung heroes, in particular her mother, a woman she described as self-sacrificing, a single parent who attended every Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting, every competition she entered, a simple woman who served her children with humility and pride.
THE MENTALLY ILL
While McDonald spoke of her mother and the other mothers in the country, Mrs. Joy Crooks sat in the midst waiting to be honoured for her role in taking on the cause of the mentally ill in the society.
As Nurse Administrator of CUMI, she has watched that non-governmental organisation grown from a street people-feeding programme to a recognised Rehabilitation Day Centre, providing service to all categories of citizens in need of clinical, psychological rehabilitation and children programme assistance.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Crooks was the sole female selected from western Jamaica to be honoured by the Kiwanians for her commitment and dedication to community service.
WASH LOAD
Within the midst of the group of female Kiwanians stood, also, a young singer/poet and student of the Montego Bay Community College, Nattecia Bohardsingh. Dressed as a housewife, ready to take on a wash load of clothing, Bohardsingh told, 'tales of a struggling woman'. With conviction she spoke of the hardship in raising children and the importance of a good education.
Those who turned out for the occasion included president of the Kiwanis Club of Providence, Hyacinth Shakes Warren, Lt. Governor Viviene McDonald, Janet Richards, Georgia Morrison, Joan Johnson, Rosemarie Ivey, Nadine Spence, Shannett Facey, Glenda Miller, Myrtle Cargill, Olwin Neish, Delvalyn Clarke, Fagan Calvert, Denise McIntosh, Vinnette Elliott, Paulella Reid and Latoya Smatt.
