MONTEGO BAY, St James – Pastor Mary Wildish, founder and president of Trumpet Call Ministries International (TMCI) was among seven phenomenal women from western Jamaica who were recognised for their sterling demonstration of resilience in the aftermath of last October’s Hurricane Melissa.

Their impressive list of accomplishments that impacted the lives of many, filled the room during a glitzy Women of Resilience Brunch hosted by the Women of Western Jamaica (WOWJa) at S Hotel Montego Bay on Sunday.

The event, in celebration of Women’s History Month, was attended by a strong showing of western Jamaica’s female movers and shakers, including Marlene Malahoo Forte and Nekeisha Burchell, the Members of Parliament for St James West Central and St James Southern, respectively.

During a riveting chat with founder and chairman of WOWJa, Janet Silvera, Wildish held the stylishly attired females, some sporting elegant hats, spellbound as she recounted how she was prompted into immediate action amid widespread devastation on the “pitch black” night of the hurricane.

She said the scale of destruction in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, and beyond, made it clear that “we had to step up to the plate, and the night would not be normal”.

Wildish said she quickly partnered with Operation Blessing and the United Cajun Navy, transforming her damaged church into a central hub for approximately 20 non-governmental organisations providing food, medical care, counselling, generators, and water systems.

She emphasised that despite the chaos caused by collapsed infrastructure and communication systems, she managed to mobilise 130 churches across various denominations to bring order and coordinated relief.

According to Wildish, she developed a three-pronged approach, including the establishment of service hubs across affected regions and supplying them with essential resources while teams conducted daily outreach into remote communities.

One moment that remains indelibly etched in her memory was discovering an elderly man abandoned in dire conditions in Bread Nut Walk, St Elizabeth.

“He was lying in his own urine; from his knees down he was infected. He had just been left there to die,” she recalled.

Acting immediately, her team cleaned, fed, and cared for him.

Wildish underscored the emotional strength that drove her efforts.

“Something just happened. You just get the grace and the strength and the energy. It has changed me forever,” she said.

Joining Wildish on the evening’s list of well-deserved honorees was Katrin Casserly, chairman of Hanover Charities; Tamika Williams, operator of Ahh Ras Natango; Dr Marcia Graham, medical officer of health, Westmoreland; Tricia-Ann Bicarie, VP, marketing and sales, Sea Gardens Beach Resort; Nordia Barrett Lewis, the consular queen; and Tiffany Grant, entrepreneur, Money Talk and Tiff.

The keynote speaker was Half Moon General Manager Shernette Crichton who shared her thoughts on the theme ‘Rising through the storm: turning setbacks into strength’.

“[Hurricane] Melissa didn’t teach us resilience, she just gave us a new occasion to practise it… In the days and weeks after the storm, before any official aid arrived, before ODPEM [Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management], before the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force], before any international agency could mobilise, it was women who responded first,” Crichton emphasised.

“Mothers tending to injuries with torn bed sheets, grandmothers rationing the last of the rice and the tin mackerel, neighbours sheltering neighbours. The setback was that there was no help immediately. The strength was that women became the help. When every cell tower in western Jamaica went down, we were cut off from the rest of the country. It was women who mobilised the churches in the community centres, the basic schools into ad hoc relief networks, and Maureen James, she mobilised the [Montego Bay] Conference Centre,” she added.

Silvera, who founded WOWJa, a year ago, noted that the organisation was “created to empower, uplift, and celebrate women, especially in moments when the world forgets them”.

Six of seven women recognised by Women of Western Jamaica during the Women of Resilience Brunch at S Hotel Montego Bay on Sunday: Tiffany Grant (left), entrepreneur, Money Talk and Tiff Pastor Mary Wildish (second left), founder and president of Trumpet Call Ministries International (second right); Tricia-Ann Bicarie (third right), VP, Marketing and Sales, Sea Gardens Beach Resort; Tamika Williams (third right), operator of Ahh Ras Natango; Dr Marcia Graham (second right), medical officer of health, Westmoreland; and Katrin Casserly, chairman of Hanover Charities. Missing from the photo is Nordia Barrett Lewis, the Consular Queen, who had to leave the event early.

Joy Clark, chairman of Digicel Foundation (left); Diedre Ann Smith, and Christene Green (right) in attendance at the Women of Resilience Brunch, put on by the Women of Western Jamaica at S Hotel Montego Bay on Sunday.

Nekeisha Burchell, Member of Parliament for St James Southern, was among the attendees at Sunday’s Women of Resilience Brunch, put on by the Women of Western Jamaica at S Hotel Montego Bay.

St James West Central Member of Parliament Marlene Malahoo Forte in a playful mood during the Women of Resilience Brunch, hosted Sunday by the Women of Western Jamaica at S Hotel Montego Bay.