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In 1999, Mullally went to San Diego, California, to head a software development team. Four years ago, she walked away from that and a 20-year career in technology, and became a personal health, wellness, cleansing and weight management coach through her organisation, Step Up For Life.
"I reached a point where I had a demanding schedule. After four years of doing that, I had made an impact on the company and it was rewarding but I wasn't enjoying it," she explained. "I wanted to see what else was available for me. My children were in high school and would soon be off, so my life wasn't centred around them anymore."
New beginning
Mullally attended a personal development seminar, the Landmark Forum, and realised her true passion. "I was able to see the barriers that were in the way of me having the kind of life I wanted. It showed me what my passion was and it was people's health. It was a complete 180-degree turn for me."
In one of her courses, she created a half-marathon training group. What began as a class project became a calling. In 2004, she founded Step Up for Life, a beginners' half-marathon training programme for women. While in the corporate world, Mullally had started running as a form of stress release in 2001. "Three months before my 41st birthday, I ran my first marathon and I was as pleased as punch. Since then, I've done five marathons and several half marathons".
She has also led more than 600 women across the finish line and is currently developing a wellness coaching practice.
NEADS
Part of the award for 'picture of health' is a monetary contribution to the winner's favourite charity. For Mullally, this would be NEADS (Dogs For Deaf and Disabled Americans). She was introduced to the association while on holiday in Hawaii. She met a woman who was wheelchair-bound and whose service dog had just died. She organised a marathon to help raise funds to replace the dog, and was able to provide three women with service dogs.
"Whether I win this contest or not, it's just the beginning. I want to win to share my secret of how you can have vibrant health. I want to teach people how to overcome self-sabotage and live healthy, balanced lives, with physical and emotional well-being," said Mullally.
She says most people don't take the time to look inside themselves and their lives. "We just go through life and roll with the punches. I reinvented myself and saw that my life was making a difference in health of the world."
To vote for the phenomenal MaryKay, log on to: www.abcnewsnow.com/pictureofhealth.
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Contacted for comment, Panday's brother Subhas confirmed that his sister-in-law had undergone surgery which went well.
St Augustine Member of Parliament Vasant Bharath said Mrs Panday was being monitored, around the clock, by doctors which is the norm following such a major surgery. Accompanying Mrs Panday to London is her daughter Mickela, the MP for Oropouche West.
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Simms, a columnist for The Sunday Gleaner , is among 10 distinguished individuals, including former Canadian prime minister, Jean Chrétien, who are to be conferred with the Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.) during the university's 291st Convocation in June. Other honourees include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television anchor Peter Mansbridge, and Daphne Odjig, who is considered one of Canada's most influential living artists. Western University's awards committee describes Simms as "an outstanding leader who has broken new ground in the fight for gender equality and social justice in Canada, The Turks and Caicos Islands and Jamaica."
First teaching assignment
Simms, the eldest of nine children, is a graduate of Bethlehem Teachers' College who emigrated to Canada in 1966 to teach. Her first teaching assignment was in northern Alberta, with the aborigines of Canada. She later finished her master's degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
Completing her doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Lethbridge, she proceeded to teach at universities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario before being appointed as president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women in January 1990 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, based on her consistent defence of women's rights.
A founding member of the National Organisation, of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada, Simms also became an executive member of the Inter-American Commission on the Status of Women. She was also a founding member and president of the Congress of Black Women.
Dr Simms' return to Jamaica began in 1995 when she attended the Beijing conference on the Status of Women as part of the Canadian delegation and made contact with the Jamaican delegation led by Cabinet minister Portia Simpson Miller, who had portfolio responsibility for women's affairs.
Head of women's affairs
In 1996, Simms came back to be appointed head of the Bureau of women's affairs. She was instrumental in raising the profile of the organisation, relocating it to its current offices at 4 Ellesmere Road, and developing library and research facilities. During her tenure, the institution also reviewed 42 pieces of legislation with a view to removing barriers against the progress of women and girls.
Simms started her own consultancy in 2005, and was senior adviser on gender and development to prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller between October 2006 and August 2007. Simms is considered an outstanding leader who has broken new ground in the fight for gender equality and social justice both in Canada and Jamaica.
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A past student of St Hugh's High School, Dr Clarke taught at St Mary High School in Highgate for many years. She received both bachelors and Masters degrees in music and education at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and went to complete her doctorate in educational administration at Ohio University, Athens.
The title of her dissertation was entitled "Legal implications on the high school principalship". At Ohio University, she was an honour student in the College of Education.
She returned to Jamaica and worked at the Ministry of Education, as a senior officer for many years.
In 1997, Dr Clarke received the US Embassy's prestigious International Visitor Award. This enabled her to tour five state in the US to observe their educational practices.
She has also been included in the Who is Who publication in London England, US and the Caribbean.
Now retired, she runs a music studio in St Andrew. She is also a lay magistrate and a church organist.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment yesterday, calling Pollard`s appointment a cornerstone of his efforts to strengthen the United Nations in that area.
Pollard currently is the chief of staff in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and has a proven track record in financial, human resources and general administrative management, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters Thursday.
She has worked with the UN Development Program, the UN Protection Force in Croatia and the UN Volunteers program among others.
As Assistant Secretary-General, Pollard succeeds Jan Beagle of New Zealand, who was appointed Deputy Director General of the UN Office in Geneva. CaribWorldNews.com
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Housing Works, the largest grassroots AIDS organization and largest minority-controlled AIDS organization in the U.S., is set to honor Haitian activist Esther Boucicault and Puerto Rico's Gloria Gonzalez at the fourth-annual Keith D. Cylar AIDS Activist Awards on Thursday, April 17 at the Times Center, 242 W.41st Street in New York City.
Boucicault is founder and director of the Fondation Esther Boucicault Stanislas of St. Marc, Haiti and will be presented a $10,000 grant and the group`s international AIDS Activist Award.
Boucicault was the first person to speak publicly about having HIV in Haiti, where people living with HIV/AIDS are profoundly stigmatized. Her Fondation Esther Boucicault Stanislas provides pioneering treatment and support services to hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS in Haiti's Bas-Artibonite region. She also helped create the National Solidarity Association, Haiti's foremost AIDS group led by people living with HIV/AIDS, and regularly speaks throughout the country about HIV prevention, including the still-taboo topic of safer-sex.
Gonzalez is an AIDS activist from Fajardo, Puerto Rico and is also set to receive $10,000 and the U.S. AIDS Activist Award. She is an HIV-positive AIDS activist and former injection-drug user who is fighting to bring syringe-exchange, treatment, housing and HIV prevention programs to IDUs in her native Puerto Rico. Despite the fact that IDUs account for 50 percent of new HIV infections on the island, the Puerto Rican government has no IDU prevention programs. Gonzalez, who also has an HIV-positive son, dreams of creating housing for IDUs in an abandoned factory not far from a shooting gallery in her hometown of Fajardo.
Other honorees include Diane Williams, an AIDS activist with Housing Works; Asia Russell, director of International Advocacy, and Paul Davis, Director of U.S. Governmental Affairs, Health GAP (Global Access Project).
The Keith D. Cylar AIDS Activist Awards are given to activists who have shown a tireless dedication to combating the pervasive stigma and discrimination faced by people with HIV/AIDS. Their work reflects the spirit of Housing Works cofounder Keith D. Cylar, who died of AIDS-related complications in 2004. Cylar was a pioneering AIDS activist who helped transform Housing Works into the nation's largest community-based and largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.
The April 17 gala benefit celebrating the Cylar Awards raises money for the Keith D. Cylar AIDS Activist Fund, which is halfway to reaching a self-sustaining $3 million.
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Thomas has not only learned how to analyze multiple sources of data, but also taught her staff to use data to direct instruction. She established a data analysis team to dissect the results of different assessments to identify instructional weaknesses-a practice that contributed to differentiated instruction.
|Thomas manages, organizes, and facilitates resources for instruction, encouraging teachers to use best practices and creative instructional strategies to enhance their lessons. An outgoing motivator, she has encouraged students and faculty members to be lifelong learners, increasing the number of school personnel attending professional development. In 2004, Thomas authored and obtained the NASA Explore School Grant, designating Doolin as a NASA Explorer School . The grant will improve the quality of science and mathematics instruction by giving teachers the opportunity to be trained by NASA experts.
Described by one of her peers as, "a woman with vision," Thomas empowers the faculty to develop their own leadership roles as department heads and team leaders with an uncanny ability to provide direction and focus on school goals. In a letter to NASSP, Janet Hupp, Region 5 Superintendent of Miami Dade County Public Schools, noted that one of Thomas' "most outstanding capabilities is her ability to interact and motivate all stake holders."
Thomas, a past student of Ardenne High School in Jamaica , received a B.S. in Zoology from the University of West Indies in Kingston and her M.S. in Biology Education from the University of Miami . She taught Biology and Science at the middle and high school level for twelve years before transitioning to her position in administration at Howard A Doolin Middle School , where she has been for eight years. Thomas was the 2006-2007 Regional Center V Assistant Principal of the Year, and the runner-up as the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Assistant Principal of the Year that same year. In 2007, she was named the Florida Outstanding Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year.
As the National Assistant Principal of the Year, Thomas will receive a $5,000 award to be used to improve learning at her school. She will also be honored along at a a black-tie dinner during a two-day recognition program April 1819, 2008, in Washington, DC, where all state honorees will participate in professional development and networking activities with their peers.
With support from Virco Inc., NASSP brought this year's three finalists to the 2008 NASSP Convention in San Antonio , TX . Find more information on the Assistant Principal of the Year Award.
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"My mother played an extremely pivotal part in my life. She showed me the way to serve. She was a very bright woman, but she was born in a time when there were not enough opportunities in our colonized countries. The University of Toronto has been a major part of my life also because I spent 34 of my years there. You just could not understand the emotional experiences that I went through," she said.
Brathwaite, who hails from the village of Bolans, was described as a long-time advocate for access and equity in higher education, and was reported as the co-founder of the university's Transitional Year Programme (TYP) at Innis College in 1970. After two previous summer projects, she presented the programme as a model of university access for students under-represented at the academic institution.
A University of the West Indies (UWI) graduate, Braithwaite taught English literature and writing at the Antigua Grammar School, and at the UWI Extra-Mural Department in Antigua before securing a Commonwealth scholarship in 1967 to pursue graduate studies in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where she earned a Masters in adult education. She has also contributed to several other significant community initiatives to promote equity and anti-racism in education.
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She has a unique eye for detail and her extraordinary talent is nothing short of breathtaking.
It was therefore no wonder when Bacchus-Holder was selected as the lone Caribbean finalist among 10 other female entrepreneurs worldwide for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Women in Business (WIB) Awards.
Bacchus-Holder owns and manages "Irene's Creative Handicraft" in the mining town of Linden.
Her business employs a small team of five young workers who craft the products designed by her.
The handicraft shop is a small but dynamic business that utilizes Guyana's unusual wood species to create original decorative and functional items of exceptional quality and beauty.
The art is either burnt on (using a method known as pyrography) or painted on in order to enhance the appeal of the products.
While Irene's Creative Handicraft is yet to achieve its long term business goals, Bacchus-Holder is of the view that "the prospects are good".
Should she be adjudged winner, Bacchus-Holder will be the first woman in the Caribbean to receive such recognition.
The women are being judged on Innovation, Entrepreneurial Talent and Outcomes and Achievements.
In addition to Bacchus-Holder, the other nine finalists are: Torrado Elba Rosa (Argentina); Medji Dédé Léa Edith (Benin); Paola Borges Barcellos Tucunduva (Brazil); Messeret Belihu (Ethiopia); Augustine Hammond (Ghana); Pauly Apea-Kubi (Ghana); Sana Zaal Burgan (Jordan); Sapphira Nyabunwa (Uganda); and Emelda Nyasha Nyamupingidz (Zimbabwe).
In recognition of the efforts of EMPRETEC Centres worldwide, UNCTAD/EMPRETEC launched the "Women in Business Award" which is being offered for the first time in April 2008 during the UNCTAD XII Conference.
Bacchus-Holder said her initial encounter with EMPRETEC has been in the participation in the Entrepreneurship Training Workshop through the sponsorship of LEAP.
Apart from the motivation she received from participating in the entrepreneurial capacity building project, she has cited the Enterprise Development Progamme as particularly helpful in advancing her business to where it stands today.
Bacchus-Holder applauded the efforts of Empretec Directorate for continuing the programme locally.
The entrepreneur believes that Empretec holds the prospects of providing substantial benefits to serious businesspeople.
She is recommending that the programme be continued but is hopeful that it is also extended to entrepreneurs throughout Guyana.
Bacchus-Holder also disclosed that she is looking forward to future support from EMPRETEC.
According to EMPRETEC's Managing Director, Judy Semple-Joseph, the selected entrepreneurs own highly productive and innovative businesses ranging from handicrafts to industrial food processing as well as garments, hotel and web portal.
Semple-Joseph said they also provide role models for other women, spearheading a process of eco-cultural change in their communities.
"In short, by this award UNCTAD is applauding women entrepreneurs in developing countries for overcoming the traditional obstacles that small businesses usually encounter," the Managing Director told Kaieteur News.
The selection of Bacchus-Holder is a signal achievement by an entrepreneur who has benefited from the services of EMPRETEC Guyana, Semple-Joseph said.
She added that Bacchus-Holder's story is indeed a testimony to the effectiveness of the EMPRETEC Model in promoting entrepreneurial success.
Recently, EMPRETEC Guyana was singled out for special mention by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi in his statement in respect of the UNCTAD / EMPRETEC Women in Business Award.
Dr Panitchpakdi lauded the pioneering role played by the women of EMPRETEC in the process of economic development and considered them role models.
The Directors and members of the EMPRETEC Family said they are indeed proud of Bacchus-Holder's achievement in reaching the finals of the inaugural Women in Business Award.
The field of nominees from Guyana included Dr Barbara Peterkin (B's Beauty Circle & Naturopathic Centre), Patricia Helwig (Despat's Catering) and Roxanne King (Roxy's Fashion & General Designing).
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The 12th annual award ceremony and dinner, organised by the Women of Great Esteem (WGE) Organisation, is slated for March 27 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York. Dubbed 'An Emerald Night in Brooklyn', the function will honour an eclectic group of nine women who, "like emeralds, are gemstones", said Reverend Sylveta Hamilton Gonzales, founder of WGE.
Among the honorees are Jamaican educator L Cecille Palmer, who is principal of the Holy Family School, Julia Lystra Collis, community activist from Trinidad & Tobago; Carmen Charles, labour activist from Guyana; Angela Barrow, a financier from Barbados; Ellen Stewart, actress/producer from the United States (US); Dr Bernadette Cole Slaughter, educator, US; Dr Betty Shabazz (posthumous), community activist, US; Joyce Q Rogers, attorney/entrepreneur and vice-president of the Ivy Technical Community College in Indiana; and Rose Pierre Louis, Deputy borough president, Borough of Manhattan, who is from Haiti.
Dr Blossom O'Meally Nelson, who was named 'Woman of Great Esteem' in 2005, will co-host this year's ceremony.
The programme, which will be complemented by live entertainment, is sponsored by Caribbean Food Delights/Royal Caribbean Bakery/JerkQzine; Citibank; Bermuda Department of Tourism; and New York Congregational Nursing Centre.
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Among others, he honoured ailing Cuban dissident Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello.
"Americans are inspired by the examples of these women," Bush said. "We will continue to support their work, and the work of women across the world who stand up for the freedom of their people."
The US president's remarks came during a White House ceremony marking Women's History Month.
Bush praised Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, saying she had survived Fidel Castro's "dungeons" and that she "knows that freedom is not going to come to Cuba by trading one oppressive Castro regime for another" -- a refered to Castro's handover of power to his brother Raul.
"And today I have a message for the people of Cuba: Viene el dia de su libertad. Your day of freedom is coming. And until that day, the United States will stand with all the dissidents working together to bring freedom to Cuba, including a brave woman named Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello," said Bush.
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SHE LOSES BOTH PARENTS IN TEN DAYS By John Mair in London |
It was a national event within a diasporic community. Hundreds there. The old,the sick and the young. Many had ventured to the 'mother land' from "BG'up to half a century ago in search of a better life The ravages of achieving, or not achieving that, etched on their faces. The graciousness of a time past in British Guiana there also to see. Men in smart 'sunday'suits, greeting each other as they now increasingly do at funerals, women dressed to the nines, hustling,bustling and organizing.
The setting a huge cavern of an urban Victorian Parish church in Kingsbury North West London. That too redolent of the colonies with its marble and stained glass. Today,the Empire was striking back.The place was packed to the ginnels.
Michael Amos was a former headmaster from Wakenhaam in the Essequibo who came to England over forty years ago to better himself. He did but only after many knock backs, as was so common to West Indian migrants ,in his early British days He was the first to die on February 18th aged 80.Even more tragically, his beloved wife of over half a century. Dolly died nine days later, on the very morning of his funeral. I met her and she was a bundle of fun. Always ready with a kind word and fiercely proud of her daughter and what she had achieved. Tragedy had visited the Amos home twice in short time.
It look all of Baroness Amos' renowned sang froid and poise to hold back the tears as she paid tribute to her parents as 'very special' whose motto was 'Family First ' and whom, to her, were simply,in the words of Michael's favourite song 'Unforgettable' She recalled the open house they ran in Kent, her father's love for all gadgets big and small and her mother's predilection to then 'store then away'. Lady Amos recalled his life as an educator and his love for education. Ninety six percent in any subject report was not enough for him-he always wanted to know where the missing four percent was!
Her father had driven into her pride in her ability and pride in her identity. She recalled his face when visiting Ghana to years ago and the home of the King of the Ashantis a black monarch. She remembered how he would venture to Brixton Market in search of 'food from home' She also retold his love of Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club (shared with Dolly),West Indies Cricket(which she has inherited) and his wife of over fifty years Dolly. Plus his love of discussion 'though arguing with him was never a level playing field' she said. She was simple and direct in her assessment of Dolly 'There is not a woman in this world to match my mother"
There will be a small family burial for Dolly at a later date.It was a very measured and dignified tribute in the midst of huge personal sadness.
Her nephew, Yane, grandson of the deceased, also paid tribute the example they set and the mantras they ingrained 'A good education guarantees against abject poverty' being a major one. He described his grandfather as 'a cross between Bob the Builder and Tony Blair' He told the congregration that he was fulfilling his grandfather's dream and working towards becoming a headmaster. His sister Shyko paid tribute to in song to her grandparents.
This funeral was always going to be an emotional occasion; it was made even doubly so by the death of Dolly with in an hour of the start. The service was conducted by Canon Andrew White ,who has achieved fame in the UK as "The Vicar of Baghdad'. continuing to minister to an Anglican congregation through thick and thin and more in Iraq. He had been taught at school in London by Michael Amos 'he was my teacher, he was my inspiration' and described the funeral (and the double death)as 'unprecedented in my experience' in yet another barely disguised emotional address.
About three hundred, mainly black, packed the urban parish church in Kingsbury; there was standing room only. The congregation reflected a world which was gone or going -the original migrants to Britain from Guyana forty plus years ago and their descendants. Some of them ,like Lady Amos, have made it here. She is the leader of the 'Guyanese Mafia':those from the country ,like her and Trevor Phillips ,who have risen to the top of public life. Lady Amos was Leader of the Lords and a British Cabinet member until last June. Among the distinguished members of Britain's black community present were Lady Patricia Scotland, the British Attorney General( of Dominican descent) who read the Grace at the Reception, Lord Waheed Alli, the television entrepreneur and a fellow 'Guyanese Mafia' member with his family , Garth Crooks the former professional footballer turned sports commentator(Jamaican) and Juliet Alexander the former TV presenter(Guyanese) who was a moving force in organizing the whole day. It was the UK Guyanese diaspora,or at least a section of it. out in force.
But the sadness and the sheer pathos of the day belonged to Lady Amos, her sister Colleen, her brother Michael and their families. Despite going in such tragic circumstance both Michael and Dolly Amos would have been very proud of the last hurrah arranged for them by their family. It was a double tragedy but a double celebration of their lives in 'BG' and the UK too.
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"In my hospital bed, I had a lot of time to pray, to think and to reflect. I will not seek a fourth term in Parliament. God willing, I will complete this present term and continue to give my all to the great people of St. Cecelia," Pratt told PLP supporters and delegates at the opening of the 50th National Convention.
At this point, it is not known who would receive the nomination for the St. Cecelia constituency once Pratt steps down before the 2012 General Election, but last night it was apparent that her constituents had publicly endorsed lawyer Paul Moss as her successor, many of them holding St. Cecelia placards bearing his name and photo.
In 1997, Pratt was asked by former PLP leader, the late Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling to become the standard bearer for the St. Cecelia constituency. During this time, she began her career in Opposition alongside Sir Lynden. She then served as Deputy Prime Minister and deputy leader of the PLP from 2002-2007 under the Perry Christie-led PLP administration and she still serves today as the party's deputy.
In recent weeks, Pratt was visibly absent from the Lower Chamber of Parliament, having experienced excruciating pains in her legs due to the deterioration of cartilage.
Pratt told her loyal supporters last night that even though she will not seek another term, she would serve with the same vigor, intensity, determination, enthusiasm and dedication as she has done since 1997. She said for three consecutive terms in Parliament, it has been her greatest honor and privilege to represent the people of St. Cecelia and she would never get tired of thanking them, as they struck with her through thick and thin.
The PLP deputy leader also promised her supporters that she would always be a PLP and also pledged her support in rebuilding the efforts of the party. She did state, however, that the party must reshape its image by "going back to the basics" and reminded the masses that they were the party of "hope and opportunity."
"So I implore you to embrace the technology that is available today to ensure that we are communicating with young people," Pratt said. She added that the PLP must also take a "cold, somber and honest" look at why they were defeated at the polls last year, and determine why they lost in the midst of unprecedented economic progress and predictions of long periods of economic growth and stability.
"The question must be asked if our public relations and public education machinery was unable to get this message of success across to the people," Pratt queried. "These are sobering questions which must be addressed as we go forward, but as we go forward we must understand that there is only one captain to this ship and we must take measures to ensure that we remain true to our base."
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The Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, formerly of the St Francis Mission, Glendevon, St James, will be among the clergy who will preach in the Queen's Chapel at St James Palace, London.
Reverend Hudson-Wilkin was trained as an officer in the Church Army, the evangelistic arm of the Anglican Church, and served at St Francis, which is an arm of the St James Parish Church, before moving to live in London where she subsequently married Kenneth Wilkin, who was also trained in the Church Army.
Later, they both became ordained ministers. She was accepted for Holy Orders in 1994 when the Church of England first admitted women into the priesthood.
Reverend Hudson-Wilkin is the vicar of a congregation in the Diocese of London. Her husband is the chaplain at Holloway women's prison.
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Sister Theresa Joseph Pegus, the assistant Roman Catholic chaplain at HM Prison Glen Parva in Leicester, was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE).
She was honoured for her services to young inmates at the British penitentiary.
Sister T, as she is affectionately known, is the prison's Roman Catholic chaplain. She has worked at the detention centre for
more than 17 years.
She is reported to offer at least 22 hours each week in spiritual guidance.
"I thought at first it was a mistake. I still think I'm dreaming," Sister Theresa said yesterday in an interview with the Leicestershire Mercury.
The Carmelite nun singled out to become a MBE because of her success in turning around convicts.
She was described as a foundation for inmates with problems such as alcohol abuse and drug addictions.
She also was celebrated for her role as a pillar to prison officers who struggled with the stress of their difficult jobs.
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A national of Dominica, Dr Etienne began her career as a medical officer at the Princess Margaret Hospital in her country, where she eventually became the Chief Medical Officer. Throughout her career, she has gained extensive knowledge and experience in various aspects of health management, health systems and health-care delivery, including management of essential drugs, human resource management for primary health care and the integration of health programmes and systems.
Dr Etienne has held high-level posts such as the Coordinator of Dominica's National AIDS Programme, Disaster Coordinator for the Ministry of Health of Dominica, Chairperson for the National Advisory Council for HIV/AIDS and the Director of Primary Health Care for Dominica. She received her MBBS degree from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica and her M.Sc. degree in community health in developing countries from the University of London.
In addition to serving in her homeland, Dr Etienne has been very active in the regional public health arena, particularly in the transformation of health systems and the introduction of a primary health care approach. She has had a long history of collaboration with PAHO/WHO, and was a founding member of the Technical Advisory Group for the Eastern Caribbean Drug Service. Dr Etienne has also conducted a significant amount of research on health services in Dominica. s
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By Dr. Lawrence B. Werlin |
-- The Count Counts Fertility issues are usually thought of as having to do with female reproductive issues, but that is not always the case. Couples having a hard time conceiving should get both partners checked out for potential problems, including a low or otherwise abnormal sperm count.
-- Double-Check the Plumbing The smallest of blockages of the tubes that deliver either sperm or eggs can lead to major infertility problems. A thorough examination of these tubes may uncover a simple solution to fertility problems.
-- Prescriptions Aren't Always Your Friend There are certain medications, which have been linked to infertility. Reevaluating use of these medications and possibly decreasing the number of medications being taken may help improve the chances of conceiving.
-- Your Chances Don't Improve With Age Much has been said about older women conceiving. In fact, Hollywood is fraught with examples of women giving birth well into their 40s. But the fact remains that as women age, their chances of conceiving a healthy child decrease dramatically.
-- Know Your Cycle Your ovulation cycle, that is. If you are having trouble tracking your own ovulation cycle, speak with your doctor. Regular ovulation cycles can help increase a couple's chances of conception. Those with irregular ovulation cycles can sometimes be helped by prescription medications.
-- Find Ways to De-Stress Don't underestimate the impact of everyday stress from work, finances and more on your ability to conceive. Sometimes a relaxing vacation can create elevate energy and mood, and aid in conception.
-- Learn More About Your Family History Your doctor needs to know if you have a family history of diseases like hypothyroidism and more. These conditions can affect hormones levels in your body, making it difficult to conceive.
-- Your Doctor is a Huge Resource There are a myriad of tests that fertility specialists can do to help couples identify and isolate their fertility problems. Sometimes there is more than one factor at play for infertile couples. Four out of five couples experiencing fertility problems ultimately have their fertility problems diagnosed.
The first step to increasing a couple's odds of conceiving is to become educated about fertility, in addition to staying informed on the latest reproductive news and research. Whether pregnancy is achieved through natural methods or fertility treatments, it is always important to understand how the body works. To learn more, visit Werl's Fertility World blog at www.werlsfertilityworld.com/.
Editor's Note: Dr. Lawrence B. Werlin, "The Werl," is a nationally noted specialist in reproductive endocrinology and infertility; is the founder and medical director of Coastal Fertility Medical Center (http://www.coastalfertility.com), and co-founder of GENESIS Network for Reproductive Health (http://www.genesisivf.com), a team of nationally recognized fertility specialists and industry leaders. He is a noted international authority on the uses and study of PGD and the former director of the Hoag Memorial Hospital Fertility Services. He was appointed to the "Best Doctors in America" list from 1996 2002 and has been an expert source for national and international media including The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, Boston Globe, The New Yorker, ABC, CBS, NBC, and KCAL. Werlin is currently the principal investigator for a number of studies that are paving the way for advances in reproductive medicine.
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In the span of less than 30 days, Traill gave birth to her first baby, celebrated her 41st birthday and accepted an award for exemplary work as a prosecutor.
"November was an awesome month for me," Traill said by phone, her newborn daughter, Mikayla, cooing in the background. "There's so many outstanding prosecutors, it's an honor."
On Nov. 29, her birthday, Traill accepted the third annual Thomas E. Dewey Medal - awarded by the city's bar association to the best prosecutors of the year. The award is given to one prosecutor from each of the five boroughs in honor of Dewey, a former prosecutor and Manhattan DA who became governor of New York and the 1948 Republican presidential nominee.
As deputy chief of the appeals bureau, Traill advises prosecutors of homicide, domestic violence and special victims cases about how to prevent problems should the defendant appeal. She also writes briefs and argues and edits the DA's positions for appeals courts from the local to the federal level.
"Her contribution to the office cannot be measured just by the individual cases for which she has been responsible," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
"She has significantly contributed to the transformation of this office into one of the most professional prosecutorial offices in the state," he added.
Traill was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Queens in 1981. She got her bachelor's degree from Hamilton College in upstate New York and graduated from Albany Law School in 1992.
Having worked on more than 400 cases - including the upcoming Sean Bell police shooting trial and the Howard Beach racial attack in which Nicholas (Fat Nick) Minucci got 15 years - Traill not only researches existing case law, she generates new arguments when no other case applies.
"Every once in a while something comes along that is completely new, no court has ever ruled on," Traill said. "That's the exciting part. You really do have a hand in shaping the law."
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In recognition of Dr. Vega's appointment to NYSCA's board and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell's, dean of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, appointment as NYSCA's board chair, a reception will be held on Tuesday, December 11, 6:30pm, at CCCADI, 408 West 58th Street.
In addition to Dr. Vega's work with CCCADI, she serves as an adjunct professor of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College, where she is co-founder and co-director of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI) that has established a alliance of non-governmental not for profit organizations that are grounded in African descendant communities. Vega is a former director of both El Museo del Barrio and the Association of Hispanic Arts, which she co-founded. She is a member of the UNESCO United States Advisory Commission on the Slave Route Project and the author of When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio and The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria. Dr. Vega received a B.S. in education and a M.A. in higher education from New York University and a Ph.D. in African American studies from Temple University.
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The plaque, which was unveiled last week at a ceremony at the house at Soho Square in Westminster, describes Mrs Seacole as a "heroine of the Crimean War".
The house is in fact one of several places in London where Mary Seacole lived during her time there and is the only one that has survived until today. The very plaque mounted at Soho Square previously adorned Mrs Seacole's earlier address at George Street in Marylebone before its demolition.
The Soho Square address was where Mrs. Seacole lived after her return from the Crimean War and at the time of the publication of 'The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands', the first autobiography written by a black woman in Britain.
To coincide with the unveiling of the plaque, the Florence Nightingale Museum has opened a display devoted to Mary Seacole's life and contribution to the nursing care of British soldiers during the Crimean War.
English Heritage has managed the blue plaque scheme since 1986. Plaques have since been issued to commemorate the achievements of a vast range of figures from different countries, cultures and backgrounds including late former Prime Minister and historian, Sir Winston Churchill; American musician, Jimi Hendrix; crime fiction writer, Agatha Christie, and Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud.
The residence of another legendary Jamaican, Bob Marley, was commemorated with a plaque last year.
Mary Seacole was recently voted greatest ever black Briton in an online poll.
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In 2005, Boston Magazine cited her as "One of Boston's 40 most Fabulous People dubbing her "fabulously connected." She serves on the Board of Directors of Massachusetts General Hospital; the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; the Commonwealth Institute and the Board of Overseers at her alma mater Emerson College.
In 2006, the American Jewish Committee's New England Chapter honored her with its National Community Civic Award for her contributions to the Boston community. Please enjoy this video: www.ajc.org/at_phillips.
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Domestic-related murders jump 20% |
In 2004, the police received 4,149 reports of domestic wounding and 4,568 reports of domestic assault - 200 more than the previous year. In 2005, of the 1, 674 murders reported across Jamaica, 49 were domestic-related. By the end of 2006, the police tallied 61 domestic-related murders that were investigated - 12 more than the year before.
Overall, according to the police, between 2001 and 2006, 17 per cent of all murders on the island were committed in the household. For the same period, all domestic offences (including murder, assault and wounding) totalled 49,047 - the highest in a long time. In the majority of the cases, women are the victims.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, John McLean, believes that much of the clandestine violence happening in Jamaican homes can be attributed to the code of silence that seems to surround this phenomenon and a breakdown in family values and relationships.
"Domestic violence affects all levels of society. First of all, no woman or child should have to tolerate abuse from any man and when they fail to report the situation to the authorities, it continues until it gets worse. Hence, nowadays we see that the figures are increasing across the country," McLean told the Sunday Observer.
He said some of the causes include dysfunction in families (which leads to a breakdown in relationships) and lack of proper parenting skills among other issues.
"A lot of persons, women especially, tend to cover up the abuse because of embarrassment and because of financial dependence on the abuser. But if they continue to put up with the problem, it will only get worse. No one should have to sit back and accept abuse," McLean said.
Psychologist and human relationship specialist, Dr Veronica Salter, agrees with McLean, arguing that as a society we seem to have become immune to violence, which has now begun to invade and infest the family space.
"Violence is now everywhere and it seems as if we are being de-sensitised to it. We have experienced so much violence as a people that nowadays violence is being used as a means of punishing people, even in schools. As a people, we tend to react violently to situations, sometimes unnecessarily," Salter told the Sunday Observer.
"We're bringing up children without love and proper social nurturing and many of them grow up to become violent adults. If you do interviews with children from some areas of Jamaica, many of them have witnessed murders or experienced violence in one form or another. There has been a breakdown in our family structures that needs mending," Salter said.
Pastor Al Miller of Whole Life Ministries puts forward similar arguments.
"At the base of domestic violence is the lack of ability to resolve conflicts. Certainly, there has been a breakdown in moral values and attitudes across Jamaica and this is therefore manifesting itself in families leading to domestic violence and other forms of indiscipline," Miller told the Sunday Observer. "At the same time, I do believe that wherever crime and violence abounds in a society, there will be increased cases of domestic violence. Indiscipline and lack of self-control have spilled over into the family setting and as long as crime and violence is rampant in our society, domestic violence will certainly continue to increase."
Attorney Margaret Macaulay advises women to leave abusive relationships, especially when young children are being affected.
"Many households are rife with domestic violence because in many cases women are dependent on their male abusers for financial support," Macaulay said. "Domestic violence destroys families because you lose all sense of balance. It is not good to stay in these relationships. Women need to learn how to protect themselves."
In addition, Macaulay cited the need for anti-domestic violence campaigns to help families break the silence.
"There is definitely a need for these campaigns. We had one in Jamaica some years ago and I believe that there is a need to bring it back because domestic violence is really an endemic problem in Jamaica."
"At the same time, women caught in these situations need to know that the law is there to protect them. The Domestic Violence Act is there to protect them," she added.
Awareness is also an important factor, according to Donna Parchment, chairman of the Disputes Resolution Foundation (DRF).
"Though this is a complex issue, there is need for much more than counselling and mediation. We need to promote knowledge and awareness about such widespread problems in Jamaica," Parchment told the Sunday Observer. "I am not sure about the other offences, but domestic murders are definitely on the increase. The issue is so sensitive that people have to be careful. The challenge for women who face such problems is to speak up and seek help."
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Travel Weekly, one of the most influential news resources for the travel industry, included Terestella González-Denton, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company in "Club 33" which according to the magazine, "is filled with people who, often working in isolation, had ideas that veered from the status quo and succeeded so spectacularly that the industry jumped out of its rut and followed. They're the ones who, when they set their own agendas, set ours as well."
The top 33 list includes the likes of Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways; former U.S. vice president and Nobel Peace Laureate Al Gore; travel commentator Peter Greenberg of NBC's Today Show; Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates as well as Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, and J. Kim Sorensen, CEO of YTB Travel Network.
"We know we have phenomenal women in our region," said Senator Allen Chastanet, Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and St. Lucia's Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation. "So, it's gratifying to see others are coming to the same conclusion. Terestella has helped rekindle hope for a united Caribbean when hope was fading and we salute her," he added .
Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, welcomed Travel Weekly's selection of González-Denton. "She is a leader in our field who has thought long and hard about the issues facing the Caribbean. She then moved boldly into areas others had not even thought about. She is very special," he said.
The widely-read trade publication editorialised of its list: "they've influenced the course travel is taking in 2007, and we think they'll be just as influential in 2008."
Praising González-Denton the magazine highlighted "Explore Beyond the Shore, the tourism mantra, is her credo and she pushes it hard, and with success, to send visitors outside the city limits of the capital, San Juan."
President of Counterpart International, Lelei LeLaulu, whose organisation hosted its 10th full edition of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) in Puerto Rico last May, said "Terestella González-Denton believes in people and makes people of her islands the core beneficiaries of sustainable tourism. That and her immense grace and innovativeness is why she's a champion. "
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By Edwidge Danticat |
Haitians and Haitian-Americans once again.
Late last month, a group of researchers published a study that concluded that the explosion of the AIDS pandemic in the United States resulted from the virus first being brought from the Congo to Haiti around 1966 and then to the United
States "after a single migration of the virus out of Haiti in or around 1969."
Now I am not a scientist and I don't pretend to understand every detail of the research conducted by the group, led by Michael Worobey of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona. (The study
was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.)
But prominent physicians argue that the group's conclusions are highly debatable. And, by pinning the blame on a Haitian "immigrant host," they could have potentially devastating consequences.
Worobey and his colleagues based their study on the blood samples taken from five Haitians in the early 1980s, patients who all happened to have been treated by a collaborator in the study, Dr. Arthur Pitchenik of the department of medicine at the University of Miami. Dr. Pitchenik had collected and sent their blood samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The Haitians' blood samples were later compared with 117 other samples from non-Haitians, and the Haitians appeared to have the oldest strain outside of Africa.
The scientific value of the research, we are told, is - aside from historical curiosity - to help study mutations for a potential AIDS vaccine, which would indeed be good news for everyone.
But one of the critical problems with the study is how sweeping a conclusion it draws from research that involves such a tiny group of people. "This is very slender evidence on which to base such a grand claim," Dr. Paul Farmer, a professor of medical anthropology who has been fighting the AIDS epidemic in Haiti, told the Miami Herald.
What's more, the study places inordinate significance on its Haitian "immigrant host" when other carriers are equally if not more plausible.
First of all, there were only a relatively small number of Haitians working in the Congo, and of these, many chose not to return to Haiti because it was under a brutal dictatorship at the time.
Second, there were plenty of missionaries, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers and revolutionaries returning from the Congo to the United States and other parts of the world who also could have spread the virus.
Previous claims on the origins of the AIDS epidemic have proven to be wrong, so we should look at the current one with a great degree of caution. The hunter theory that blamed Africans for eating bush meat, the vaccine theory that
blamed scientists for making guinea pigs out of millions of people, and the Patient Zero theory that blamed one promiscuous Canadian flight attendant all have for the most part been abandoned.
The problem with the Haitian hypothesis is that by the time it is further elaborated, vetted, debated, clarified and scientifically contested, the lives of thousands of people may be irrevocably altered, just as they were in the early 1980s, when as the only high-risk group identified by nationality, Haitians lost jobs, friends, homes and the freedom to emigrate.
At that time, a struggling Haitian tourism industry was crushed. Children, including myself, were taunted or beaten in school by their peers. One child shot himself in a school cafeteria in shame. Haitians who tried to donate blood faced a ban by the Food and Drug Administration, which eventually realized that banning donors by nationality was not the answer as much as more thorough screening of the entire blood supply.
Already, in one public discussion in Miami, a caller on a radio talk show jeered that all Haitians should be kept out of the United States.
The truth is, as long as the pandemic exists, it is all of our problem, however it started, whoever carried it, and whoever is now infected by it.
Stigmatizing Haitians will do nothing to solve that problem.
Editor's Note: Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian-American writer living in Miami. She won the American Book Award in 1999 for "The Farming of Bones." Her most recent book, "Brother, I'm Dying," is a finalist for the National Book Award . She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
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We are caught between nationalist preoccupations and anxieties that require the design and management of policies regulating the flow of people across the region, and another plane of reality that completely confronts this logic on a daily basis, noted Dr. Alissa Trotz recently. She was delivering the 13th annual public lecture in the Caribbean Women Catalysts for Change in honour of Barbados former Governor General, Dame Nita Barrow.
Speaking on the topic Gender, Generation and Memory: Remembering a Future Caribbean, Trotz, a Guyana-born Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, referred to the historical movement of Caribbean people, especially female traders. There is much press given these days to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), and of course we hope that some genuine semblance of this will occur, but ask any woman trader what the CSME means to her and Im sure that you will get the sense of the distance between decisions taken by trade Ministers in closed rooms and those who continue to face the hassles of making livelihoods at the grassroots.
Trotz added, It seems to me then, that it is movement and not borders, which is naturally Caribbean. By which I mean to say, it [movement] is a continuously defined element of our collective historical experience and memory of who we are. She noted that as opposed to a disconnect between the islands of the Caribbean, Instead, what we see are trans-national encounters that connect and go beyond the region as well as give each country its unique stance.
Describing the female Caribbean trader as a perfect example of regional movement and integral to the role of the informal economy by travelling to other countries, purchasing items cheaply then marking them up and selling them at home, Trotz said, I find it ironic, but sadly not surprising, because again it concerns the ways in which womens work remains largely invisible and undervalued, that so much of the pronouncements emanating from CARICOM on freedom of movement under the CSME have emphasised skilled labour. She argued that this definition excluded these women and failed to recognise the skills involved, while ignoring the contribution to sustaining regional economies.
The professor said that it was therefore important to examine how gender and class intersected in relation to these provisions because of the fact that teachers, nurses, domestic and hospitality workers, higglers, and artisans, were not among the original categories of free movement, showing a disregard for their historical contribution to making the Caribbean a single economic space.
Locating this issue within the CSME, Trotz asked what do the popular anxieties about borders and xenophobia, say about Caribbean tensions between national, regional, and global? She said that these concerns were often based on a collective amnesia using the contributions of Haiti and Guyana as examples. In the case of Haiti, its role giving the region the promise of black sovereignty had been forgotten in and the country was now considered simply the poorest in the Caribbean. While Guyana was no longer considered the breadbasket of the Caribbean, showing how opinions about countries changed over time.