True United Sisters lauds five women
FIVE OF St Catherine’s most outstanding women who, collectively, have contributed more than 100 years of their lives to nation building were honoured at an award ceremony held on International Women’s Day last Friday at the Power of Faith Ministries in Bog Walk, St Catherine.
The awards ceremony hosted by True United Sisters (TUS), a nonprofit charitable organisation established in 2005 to provide assistance to unemployed and unskilled women and children, and the Power of Faith Ministries in Bog Walk, St Catherine, paid special tribute to Monica White, acting principal at the Dinthill Technical High School, for 40 years serving the parish in the field of education; retired acting principal of the Enid Bennett High School Pauline Hines, for 32 years as an educator; Beverly Simpson, retired postmaster, who served Linstead and Bog Walk for 29 years; along with Peleta Foster and Ivorine Williams from the Power of Faith Ministries for their contribution to community development.
The ceremony was preceded by a health and information fair in which free eye-screening, blood pressure, and diabetes checks were done. The Registrar General’s Department and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security also assisted persons in obtaining birth certificates and other documents.
Guest speaker at the function, Troja Primary & Infant School teacher Kerry-Ann Porter-Palmer, in a very interactive presentation, implored the women to be cognisant of their individuality.
“Today, we are celebrating the contributions of these five beautiful women who have done exceptionally well in their different areas of interest. Women are the driving force in many areas of public life, and we should use them as models,” Porter-Palmer shared with an audience consisting mostly of women.
She said that the awardees had exemplified self-awareness throughout their years of service.
“Be you, do you, and share you,” she charged her listeners, adding that in order for them to be successful, they had to be aware of their identities, recognising that the talents that had been given to each person was done so to project individually.
Founder of True United Sisters Karen Sudu said that she was upbeat about the contributions of the unsung heroes. “I am very happy about it, to see so many wonderful persons coming together, especially the honourees. My hope is that we can broaden the scope next year to include more women,” she stated.