JPS empowers young women on International Women Day
LIGHT AND power company, JPS, feted several students from the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), as well as the JPS Foundation Power Up Energy Clubs and female staff members, as part of celebrations on International Women’s Day, March 8.
The event, which was hosted at the Spanish Court Hotel in St Andrew under the theme, ‘Inspire Inclusion: Don’t Count Yourself Out!’, featured Chief of Defence Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force Rear Admiral Antonette WemyssGorman; chief executive officer of Zimmer and Co, and former JPS executive, T’Shura Gibbs; professor of culture, gender and society at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Donna Hope; and, attorney-at-law, founder and CEO, Prescient Consulting Services, Rochelle Cameron.
The staging of the event offered in particular, an opportunity for students from the WCJF, who are teenage mothers, to see women, some of whom shared a similar experience, tell their JPS senior vice president, customer experience and commercial division, Pia Baker, in opening the proceedings, quoted t he poet, Marianne Williamson, Our Greatest Fear, eloquently charging the audience to be liberated from fear and to let their light shine. She added, “We will listen to all these amazing women today, and I want to encourage you to grab the golden nuggets that will be extended to you … use these nuggets to charge up your life.”
Rear Admiral Wemyss-Gorman shared her journey. “Don’t’ let anyone tell you that you are not good enough, smart enough and strong enough to achieve your dreams. You are more than enough just as you are. We must continue to push those boundaries so that we can pave the way for the future generation of women,” she said.
She encouraged the students to make use of the opportunities presented to them and to invest in themselves, learning all that they could to be their best selves, every day. She further challenged them to adopt a can-do and will-do attitude, focusing on what they could achieve.
“Your journey is not defined by your past or your circumstances. You have the power in you, to break free of the chains placed on you. Build your skills, speak positivity in your daily lives,” Wemyess-Gorman said.
Gibbs, a teenage mother herself, emphased the importance of introspection, she shared that she thought deeply about her situation. “What was this lesson here to teach me? For me it was redirection as my path was redirected,” she said, adding, “just know it is going to be OK. It will not be the only problem that you will face in life. The problem may even seem insurmountable, but if you believe in yourself and believe that you can do it, you will,” she said.
“Every time you are faced with adversity there is an opportunity. Sometimes we get caught up with what went wrong instead of focusing on what is going right.” She also encouraged the young ladies to pursue excellence at all times. “You never know who is watching you, so whatever you are doing or whatever situation you are put in, give it your absolute best shot,” she advised.
TIPS
Professor Donna Hope, who was also a teenage mother, gave tips from her current book, Chicken Back Gravy and Such Delights: Life Lessons from My Journey.
She encouraged women at all levels to always count themselves in and not out. She said women needed to know and understand themselves at all the stages of their journey. She also stressed the importance of reading to equip oneself with knowledge. “My mother shared with me that gift of reading,” she said.
Education, she further added, travels well as it renewed and appreciates with age. “That is a mantra I live by … it crosses water and does not rot, and it is constantly renewing itself,” she said.
Cameron touched on the topic of fulfilling one’s dreams. “Don’t cause them to expire because of age, cellulite, teeth or nothing,” she said.
“Broaden the tribe, strengthen the tribe and make sure whatever tribe you are a part of, you are pulling up the tribe and you are a light and fire in that tribe. We owe it to ourselves,” she stated.
“You are born strong already and resilient already so you have everything it takes for you to be successful, but you have to believe it … anywhere you are placed, you are placed for purpose, and for impact. Vote for yourself,” she said.
For WCFJ student, Lena*, who recently became a mother, the presenters were both inspiring and entertaining. She said while she was doing all right since having her daughter, her situation was very stressful at times. Lena added that it was her intention to finish her studies and become successful with the help of others.
President of the JPS Foundation Energy Club at Holy Childhood High School, Cherieki Hopwood, said she was grateful that JPS chose these beautiful women to speak to them. “They not only came to motivate, but they came to express themselves and tell parts of their story. It was so good we had all these stories from women with different backgrounds. I feel full now,” she said.
International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness about discrimination, and encourages action to drive gender parity.
*Name changed to protect identity