Call to join club, remember importance of giving back

President of the Soroptimist International of Jamestown, Hortense Trim-Gaskin is extending an invitation for all ladies and girls to come and join the Soroptimists and give back to the people of Barbados.

 

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate yesterday after the Soroptimist International of Jamestown Developmental Retreat at Discovery Bay, St. James, she said that if there is any female in this country who is interested in getting involved in community work and contributing to the development of not just themselves, but also other ladies and girls, then this is the club for them to accomplish those objectives.

 

“Yes, I would like to send a message to all young women, professionals, non-professionals, girls who are interested in community work, who want to see the upliftment and the betterment of Barbados, especially when it comes to young girls; Soroptimist International is the place for you to be.”

 

This is because the upliftment of women and girls is the main reason why their organization was founded on in the first place and the programmes that they create centre on the development of this group.

 

“Our organization was founded 30 years ago, is aimed to “empower, enable and educate young women and girls; you know, transforming their lives through various activities and projects. We do various projects around the island like we install water pipes and bathrooms in the homes of ..., many disadvantaged persons. We also empower some of the kids in the schools and we are basically dealing with the North area because you know there is another Soroptimist Club which is the Soroptimist Club of Bridgetown, but we are Jamestown so we basically concentrate on the northern side of Barbados.”

 

Trim-Gaskin said that there is no specific age range for joining the club. Once you have completed secondary school, you are free to join and they even have a programme that would cater to these young ladies within the school system called the Caciques and once they have competed this programme, they can come and join the Soroptimists.

 

CEO of the National Initiative of Service Excellence (NISE), Kim Tudor also echoed the call for persons to join service organizations and/or churches, stating that it is important for persons to learn how to give back to others.

 

“I do think that you know people don’t make that link between the whole notion of being grateful and how that forms the basis of paying it forward, of wanting to do service, not only for your community, but also for your country and fellow man.”

 

Trim-Gaskin said that the retreat was an annual meeting where they see how their organization is functioning; what tasks they would like to undertake; what their challenges are and how these can best be addressed and they like to do this in an environment that is conducive to this type of brainstorming and strategic planning.