Barbados Today

Digicel has stepped up to the plate to help women seeking shelter from abuse. And as the telecommunications company made the donation to the Business And Professional Women’s Club Of Barbados’ (BPW Barbados) Shelter For Abused Women, it urged Barbadians to take care of mothers in their communities. 

In recognition of Mothers’ Day, the company teamed up with long-time Digicel Ambassador Michael Mikey Mercer to provide some assistance to the women seeking temporary refuge from situations in which they were subject to some form of abuse.

The company provided hampers of household and other items to the BPW Barbados, to be distributed to mothers in the programme. Commercial director of Digicel (Barbados) Limited, Alex Tasker, noted that in its efforts to identify mothers to salute or recognize at this time, Digicel was made aware by Mikey of the plight of this group of victims, many of whom not only had themselves to look out for, but their children as well.

“Motherhood is already viewed as the world’s most demanding job; therefore one could only imagine the difficulties these women face when trying to protect themselves from abuse and by extension their children,” Tasker said. “Many of these women make extreme sacrifices for their children, which indeed makes them extraordinary women and mothers, and we at Digicel would like to salute and assist them, in addition
to encouraging Barbados to do the same,” he added.

Mikey, an advocate for ending violence against women, lauded Digicel’s decision to provide support to the mothers of the BPW Barbados programme.

“As a strong supporter of any movement to end violence against women, and a man who loves my mother dearly I could not think of a better way for Digicel to show its support for these extraordinary women who face tremendous challenges on a daily basis. I know the recipients of these packages will be very grateful and I look forward to bringing Digicel and the BPW closer together,” he said.

BPW Barbados is a “status-of-women” club focused on empowering women at all levels and is part of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, represented in 96 countries. President of BPW Barbados, Marrianne Burnham, thanked Digicel for its donation.

“This gesture from Digicel is certainly a very welcome one, providing much needed assistance to a very necessary programme. We offer emergency temporary housing to victims of domestic violence who are in need of a safe shelter, with approximately 20 to 25 women and children being accommodated at any one time. On behalf of BPW Barbados and the women in the Safe Haven, I’d like to thank Digicel for their generosity.”
(PR/DP)