…towards independence, empowerment

THE Dorcas Mending Hearts Ministry (DMHM), in collaboration with Abila’s Exquisite Beauty Salon and School of Cosmetology, on Saturday held its graduation exercise at the Sophia Primary School for the 20 women who participated in the Nail Artistry and Cosmetology programme.

President of the DMHM, Kim Kyte-Thomas, said that their main mission is to meet victims of domestic violence, women, children and even men, and the situation is approached from different angles: they provide free representation, free counselling and free legal representation to victims of domestic violence.

She added that they don’t stop there; they also deal with the situation even before it occurs, so there are a number of skills-development centres around the country and these programmes usually last for six weeks.

“This present graduation was a nail artistry and cosmetology programme, we were here for about nine months in Sophia; these ladies have been exposed to artistry, so after this they will become trained nail technicians. And they will be able to go into the world of work and provide for themselves. These courses are open to everyone because we believe in empowerment,” Kyte-Thomas said.

Vice-president of the DMHM, Lorraine Foster, said that, “We don’t want men to think that we do not cater for them, because one of the first persons that we helped was a male and we were able to provide him with a start-up business right here in Sophia.
“This programme has been very uplifting for me because it is something I have always wanted to do and now that I’m graduating, my plan is to start my own business. I already have the location. This is good what they are doing to help women empower themselves,” said Deweever, one of the women who participated in the programme.

The women who participated in this programme were very happy to receive their certificates; many of them had already planned to start their own businesses and become independent by working for themselves.