Shades, a women’s empowerment group, was launched at the Guyana Cricket Club (GCC) on Saturday. Its aim is to empower women through acts of volunteerism, and a number of highly motivated women were present at the launch.
The event saw, among others, the appearance of members of the Enigma Dance Studio; former acting ambassador for Canada on Day of the Girl, Kendra Warner; and member of the ‘I can’ Foundation, Shabakie Fernandes, among others.
Founder and chief coordinator of Shades, Lynn Medford-Ronnkvist, explained that the foundation was created to provide a way for women of similar age groups to interact and learn valuable skills from each other.
Some of the members of the Shades Foundation
“We have women of all walks of life, different backgrounds, different classes, different economic standards; so when we say volunteerism, you have an opportunity to help each other,” she highlighted.
The foundation intends to give women a deeper insight on the reasons for their successes and failures, while helping them to understand the steps needed for advancement into another stage of life.
Each age group at the launch was represented by a different colour, primarily pink, green, grey, orange and black.
There will be a list of scheduled activities for each group each month, during which members can learn new skills for the development of their respective communities, as well as for the improvement of social interactions — to raise their voices against issues of today’s society, which include domestic violence. Several workshops will also be held throughout the year as well.
The foundation is open to women of all ages who are willing to participate and be part of the activities and self-empowerment sessions. International Women’s Day will be celebrated on March 8 under the theme “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”.
