On Friday, November 25th, Royal Poinciana, a Montserratian Women’s Organisation committed to the advancement and elevation of the women of Montserrat will open the island’s first Women’s Resource Centre, called MAMA, in the old clinic on the Level in St. Peter’s.
The opening of the Montserrat Women’s Resource Centre coincides with the start of the annual United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Violence Against Women.
MAMA will be safe space for women and girls of every age, a place to learn and teach, share stories, experiences and wisdom, create networks and strengthen support systems. MAMA is the realization of a declaration made on International Women’s Day 2015. On that day, a group of women met at Little Bay to celebrate the advancement and achievements of women, and left that gathering having pledged their energies and expertise to fight against violence against women and to keep the women, men and children of Montserrat safe from domestic and other forms of violence against women and children.
The work engaged through MAMA will be very much focused on empowerment and uplift, and will include preparing girls and very young women for successful adulthood through after school programmes and training in areas as diverse as table manners and politics, life skills and study skills, sports and literature. MAMA will offer play shops, personal growth classes and meetings, creative, social and sales events and increasing opportunity for girls and women to strengthen their skills, showcase what they know and share and expand their creativity and ingenuity.
Royal Poinciana invites the women, men and children of Montserrat to drop by and see MAMA, contribute time and skills, and gain new knowledge, self-confidence and input into the advancement and redevelopment of our island.
MAMA, the Montserrat Women’s Resource Centre will hold an Open House beginning on November 25th and continuing until December 10th.
