AMERICAS: August Town Women Commit to Change

August Town has the reputation of being a violent area with little social progress, but the community's Women's Action Group (WAG) is determined to change that.

The group has already been making strides in changing that perception since being launched over four years ago.

The group was formed out of a need for positive change in the community, which for a long time had been marred by gang violence. Since its inception, WAG members have been helping to maintain peace by intervening during potentially violent episodes, and through offering counselling to parents and at-risk children.

President Tashna Silburn said WAG's membership has fluctuated over the years, but that has not deterred the few committed women from attending the group's meeting at Bryce Hill Plaza in August Town on Wednesdays, to discuss projects and interventions that can benefit the community. The group has about 15 consistent members although it has about 71 registered.

"We are basically just women empowered to transform the community, and we believe that although August Town is viewed as a very violent community, we have the power to undo that," said Silburn.

"A lot of these men who are gunmen, we are their parents, we are their sisters, even daughters and girlfriends," she pointed out.

Last Sunday, WAG unveiled its logo which was recently painted on the August Town football field to help solidify their role in the area. They also hosted their annual back-to-school treat during which over 40 students were given stationery and school supplies in time for the new school year.

"We specifically went around the community and picked children who we considered needy, because we know we can't go to everybody," said Silburn, who was optimistic about the group's upcoming projects.

"Our major programme is going to be our 'children at risk' project, where we've identified August Town Primary, Hope Valley Experimental and Mona Primary, and we are going to try and identify children from the August Town community in these schools who are at risk and find interventions for them, so we can stem the cycle of violence," Silburn noted.

Mother of eight and vice-president for WAG, Isolyn Adamson said she was deeply concerned about the welfare of some of the children living in the community. She believes many of them do not get enough nurturing from their parents, and therefore deal with issues in anger and not love.

In an effort to impact positive change, WAG has been collaborating with groups such as the Citizen Security and Justice Programme, the Peace Management Initiative, and the University of the West Indies, Mona, to introduce various programmes that can help to instil hope and peace in August Town. One such initiative is the 'Pon di Corner' project which seeks to engage the youths in positive discussion.

"We are just trying to get activities going in the community so they (youths) don't really have any time to think about anything else. What we found out when we went to the 'Pon di Corner' project is that many of the young boys never got a hug from their mother, their mother never told them they loved them, so they just grow up violent," said Adamson.

"We as the women try to get them to realise that women love them and their parents love them," she said.

Adamson, who is the mother of former national netball captain Simone Forbes, believes that the youths in August Town have tremendous potential and have been making strides despite the varying issues they have to deal with such as single parenthood and crime and violence.

In an effort to unearth these talents, WAG is in the process of planning a Mini-Miss August Town competition which will help to further engage the youths from warring communities while teaching them etiquette.

"We want to start a programme where we teach young girls how to sit properly, how to make a bed, how to set a table, how to answer the phone politely and how to trust themselves so they can trust others," Adamson said.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Wilson, chairman of the August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation, believes WAG has been making a significant contribution to the transformation of the August Town community.

"Women bring a different perspective to life in general, but especially to the development of the community. They tend to see things differently from how we look at things. They are more caring, more sharing, they are basically the nurturers of the community, so it is very important to have something like this in the community," said Wilson.