Winnie Harlow and PUMA champion education reintegration for teen moms
Published:Saturday | November 11, 2023 | 12:11 AMJanet Silvera /Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Sold on the impact being made by the island’s women centres on teenage mothers, Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow and PUMA have opened their hearts hugely in backing the reintegration of pregnant females into the traditional school system.
Harlow, whose real name is Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young, and the shoe company she signed with five years ago, donated US$20,000.00 (approximately J$3 million) to enhancing programmes at the Savanna-lar-Mar Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation programme for Adolescent Mothers in Westmoreland.
Harlow’s father was born and raised in Savanna-la-Mar, a town she says she has great affinity for. “I want to continue to give to the community that has basically raised me and stands in my heart,” she stated, signalling her plans to ensure continuity in the parish.
The model, who gained prominence in 2014 when she entered America’s Next Top Model, said before selecting the women’s centre she and her team did research for eight months and had meetings with the operators of the programme for six months before embarking on the project.
“Since signing to PUMA, I have been looking for ways in which I can give back to the community I am from,” she shared. A quarter of the funding she donated will go towards a special documentary on the work of the institution founded 45 years ago.
As she gave quality time with the young women who spend up to a year in the programme, along with their babies, Harlow expressed hope that the girls left with much more confidence, walking out into the world with their heads held high.
“Wearing confidence on their shoulders, with their shoulders held back and knowing that they can do anything that they set their minds to is what I want to see,” said the model who is accustomed to holding her shoulders back.
The 29-year-old, who was the first model with vitiligo to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2016, was like a big sister to the young women who awaited her arrival at the centre on Wednesday afternoon. Young adults from three centres, including Montego Bay, St James and Junction, St Elizabeth, turned out for the occasion.
She gave them modelling tips and spoke of how important it is to have self-love no matter what the disabilities are. To add, they were all gifted PUMA gear.
Optimistic about the future, the women’s centre’s public relations and communications manager, Latoya Rattray-Ellis, said a celebrity such as Harlow partnering with the centre speaks well for them. “It tells us we are doing something good. She was sold on our impact, and the fact that we’re instilling confidence in these young ladies, because we know that when something happens to you that you didn’t plan for and your life gets derailed a little bit, it can impact your confidence,” Rattray Ellis argued.
Harlow believed it was important to infuse life, positivity, and confidence into the lives of young ladies given a chance to reintegrate after having their babies. After covering the documentary production costs with the received funding, she specified that the surplus is dedicated to the A-stream programme. This initiative supports the education of reintegrated girls not only in high schools but also in tertiary institutions.
“So it’s a beautiful experience. Winnie’s presence here today just tell us that we’re doing something good. And we’re encouraged to continue in this our 45th year of celebration,” Rattray Ellis added.
The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation programme for Adolescent Mothers started in 1978, in response to the high level of teen pregnancy that the country was experiencing at that time. Initially, their mandate was, and continues to be, to offer ongoing education for teenage girls facing pregnancy. The original focus was on girls under the age of 16 who got pregnant, but they have since increased to include girls up to 18, and are now accepting girls who are 19, once they are pregnant.
At the centre, they receive academic instruction such as basic English, mathematics, and other educational courses that are aligned with the country’s educational curriculum. In addition, the girls receive individual, group, and contraceptive counselling as many of the youngsters in the institution have experienced traumatic conditions.