Enhanced educational programme for teenage mothers thanks to Sandals Foundation and Bob Marley Foundation
On June 10, 2016 two of the Caribbean’s most renowned brands, the Sandals Foundation and the Bob Marley Foundation, handed over twenty computers to the Women’s Centre of Jamaica to assist with the new modality of delivery of the CSEC programme. The Executive Director of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica (WCJ), Dr. Zoe Simpson expressed that she was ecstatic to receive the computers equipped with software as they have struggled in some centers with as much as eight teenagers using one computer during a class session.
The VDI Programme at the Women’s Centre, which commenced in September 2015, offers distance learning through its seven centres and twelve outreach sites across the island. The WCJ seeks to assist teenagers whose education become delayed due to pregnancy, complete their secondary education. Dr. Simpson highlighted how difficult it was prior to the initiation of the programme for the young mothers to travel to Kingston from all over the island for classes. This difficulty resulted in dwindling numbers of students. The introduction of the VDI programme saw a significant increase in registered students, making a class session difficult with only one computer at each site.
The donation of the computers was another project under the Women Helping Others Achieve (WHOA) programme that was launched in February 2016. At the handing over ceremony the Director of Programmes at Sandals Foundation, Heidi Clarke, highlighted that the WHOA programme seeks to address several areas of need for women across the Caribbean. The main focus areas being: education for pregnant teenage girls, skills training, funding for women in sports, counselling and mentorship for abused women and provision of health equipment for rural health clinics and local hospitals.
The WHOA programme is designed to help marginalized women across Jamaica and the Caribbean to have support, inspiration and strength to transform their lives and in doing so positively impact their families and communities for generations. Donations have amassed over $2.4 million for the Jamaican arm of the programme.
