A NUMBER OF disabled women took the first step towards a “well-balanced” life with their involvement in the Barbados Council for the Disabled’s Breakfast Club training programme last Saturday.
They are participants in a new programme entitled: The Breakfast Club – A Training Programme Focusing On Empowering Girls And Women With Disabilities.
It is being held in conjunction with the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Barbados. The activity was part of the activities held on International Women’s Day.
Senator Kerry-Ann Ifill, who addressed the opening ceremony, stressed the importance of the three-month programme, especially in light of the marginalisation of women with disabilities.
“Many of our young women with disabilities are neglected, ignored, set aside, not included in the important activities in life,” she noted. “We are untrained and some of us do not receive the necessary information that we need to make wise decisions.”
Ifill said the Breakfast Club was designed to “fortify” the women “in the days ahead”.
“The breakfast here is not important what you eat, it’s what you take in – the nourishment to your soul, to your mind, to your heart, to your understanding. The thriving that will occur as a result of this day, this week, these activities,” she said.
Administrative project officer with the Barbados Council for the Disabled, Rose-Ann Foster-Vaughan, explained that the workshops would focus on topics like being a self-advocate, personal imagery and etiquette, and sexual reproduction and health.
“Although six sessions to this workshop will pass very quickly, the ultimate two-pronged approach to the programme is to develop a competent group of women leaders who can train other women to be advocates in pursuit of equal rights and equal opportunities in this society,” she said.
A number of women, including members of the hearing impaired and physically-disabled communities, were presented with their scrolls of participation. (HLE)
