Empowering Women Through Tech

FRIDAY 12 APRIL, 2024: PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – The Digicel Foundation has partnered with the Trinidad & Tobago Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to support vulnerable women across Trinidad and Tobago. Through this partnership, several shelters and organisations that provide service to women in vulnerable situations have been outfitted with tech centres, alongside other much-needed facility upgrades.

One of the organisations benefiting from a tech centre is the New Life Ministries Rehabilitation Centre for Women, located in Palo Seco. The new air-conditioned tech space has computers, a printer and a whiteboard, as well as one-year free high-speed internet courtesy Digicel Plus. This space will be used to facilitate various training initiatives and will allow women to build key IT skills and access training in business development. The centre can house 30 women and offers a two-year addiction treatment programme that guides women through the journey of recovery. The rehabilitation programme is conducted in two phases. The first phase (Primary Care) involves 3 months of residential living and the second phase (after-care) lasts 21 months and involves weekly in-person/online follow-up sessions among other individually tailored programmes. 

Overall, the centre has treated over 5,000 clients – men and women – since its inception in 1986, with men treated at the Mount St Benedict location. In addition to Treatment & Rehabilitation, the centre offers free services including, but not limited to, a 24-hour hotline and school seminars. The Digicel Foundation’s partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was finalised last year during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign that ran from 25 Nov - 10 Dec 2023.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints donated TT$607,500 (US$90,000) to the Digicel Foundation, and the Digicel Foundation contributed a further TT$267,502 towards the initiative to outfit technology centres in shelters that support women and children