I share some common background with our clients – girls and young women – in experiencing childhood sexual abuse. From the age of six years-old it was a cousin ten years older who abused me. Yet I was always thinking that I was playing dolly house. At Eve for Life, about 75-80 per cent of our mentees have experienced child sexual… Read more →←
Topic: Health promotion
A few years ago it was Eve for Life telling me that my life was not over. Today it is me having that same conversation with others, telling them, ‘Where you are right now, that was once me, but look at me now!’ Eve for Life has become a family to me where they have grown me from a mentee to a mentor mom and now I am a life coach… Read more →←
I am a survivor of sexual violence. It happened to me when I was seven years old and living in Linstead, St. Catherine. My parents knew what happened and were supportive, but it wasn’t until I was in my thirties and living in Canada for school, that I felt comfortable talking about it publicly. It was at a ‘Take Back the Night’… Read more →←
Working in child protection, one of the things that concerns me most are the messages that we give our children about safety and particularly, who is safe to be around. In Jamaica we have the “stranger danger” phenomenon where young children are taught that it is strangers that you need to be wary of. Yet, we need to open up a… Read more →←
Girls Who Know Ja came from being in school where sexual and reproductive health was something to be tiptoed around and could not be openly discussed in class. As an adolescent, there is such a short list of people who you can go for information and an even shorter list for safe and reliable information. What is being taught in schools… Read more →←
If someone had asked me six months ago about the fastest way to reach young people in Jamaica, I would probably have said Instagram. If you asked me today, I would likely say U-Report (provided by UNICEF), albeit with the caveat that it depends on your needs. As we pulled together our communication strategy and action plan for dengue at… Read more →←
A year ago today I was discharged from the hospital where I had spent the past month. Yet I did not feel much better than when I entered. I did not believe in myself, my happiness, or my own self-worth. Yet somehow I found my superpower, the ability to take responsibility for my recovery – to make me work. Before, I had listened to… Read more →←
Eleven years of Eve for Life is a time of real reflection. When we started on this journey, my co-founder Pat Watson and I, we were giving up the comfort of our careers because we knew this work had to be done. We could never have known that we would reach this far. We are at our Mentor Mom retreat as I write this, and on our special day… Read more →←
Whenever I think of healthcare, three things readily come to mind – affordability, access and quality. As a young person in Jamaica, accessing healthcare comes with its challenges. Many young persons, irrespective of their status, struggle with accessing affordable and quality health services, particularly relating to sexual and… Read more →←
The energy in the room is light and there is laughter. There are no hints that the young women gathered in this space are anything but ordinary. They are relaxed and open. Until the conversation turns to forgiveness. The girls suddenly flounder. Smiles give way to knitted brows and slumped shoulders. Now, the room aches with the… Read more →←