AT the heart of the Where Ladies Talk is the desire of women to provide support where necessary to their sisters in need. In August, approximately 80 families were assisted through a school book drive undertaken by the online collective to assist women financially deprived in the wake of COVID-19 control measures. WLT launched the school book and supplies drive in July, in response to several desperate re-quests for help.
This is the second time the organisation has initiated such a programme to meet the expressed need of women on Saint Lucia, having held a smaller drive in 2019.
“The call was put out in our Facebook group, which has over 2,000 members and many quickly and eagerly sprung to action,” explains founder Sanue Joseph.
“You must understand some of these women are themselves experiencing issues with the impact of Coronavirus control measures but they still contributed in some way to the school supplies drive,” she said.
The organisation also reached out to the commercial sector and other benefactors. Responding within a short time-frame were Tropical Shipping, KFC, Digicel and the Hon Guy Joseph. Al-most 3,000 school supplies, including 300 notebooks, 260 exercise books, 1,250 packets of paper and file sheets, and of course school books, were distributed.
One parent, whose plight was widely circulated online, received a full compliment of supplies for her child, including school shoes, bag and uniform. Members of WLT also ensured the initiative was successful by giving of their time to collect, collate and distribute the supplies. Over three weeks, they engaged with families in the north and south of the island, offering words of encouragement and support in addition to material assistance. Such initiatives are expected to continue from WLT, which has implemented several programmes since its inception in 2018. These include the ‘A woman Speaks’ symposium and the ‘Women Entrepreneurs’ Workshop series.