FPATT News

Special Moments 2005

With the end of 2004, everyone sighed with relief, closed their eyes and opened them to the whirl wind beginning of 2005.

BREATHING LIFE INTO FPATT YOUTH PROGRAMMES:

While the youth centre has always been a specialised service for persons between the ages of 14 to 25, in 2005, FPATT took a decisive step to re-brand the centre in keeping with the needs and expectations of the target market. A bold, new logo was designed to distinguish De Living Room from other FPATT services, along with a new logo for the Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM).

In addition, with the coordination of the Youth Officer, the decision was made to completely overhaul YAM. New promotional and recruitment materials were developed to encourage young people to join the Movement.

REPORT TO THE NATION:

FPATT was extremely privileged to have a very distinguished and controversial guest speaker at the 2005 Report to the Nation, Ms Frances Kissling, President, Catholics for a Free Choice. Ms Kissling propelled FPATT into the forefront of the brewing national debate on Abortion. Her compelling and forceful arguments on the need for Abortion reform, cemented FPATT's position as an advocate for the elimination of unsafe abortions in Trinidad and Tobago and was the launch pad for increased public debate on the issue.

THE START OF TWO THINGS NEW:

In 2005, FPATT granted funding for two new projects, the first of which was Advocacy on Abortion. In February 2005, The Executive Director and the Communications and Development Officer, were invited to IPPF/WHR in New York, to work on developing a country specific proposal on Abortion. The proposal was developed to target the elimination of unsafe abortion in Trinidad and Tobago, with the collaboration of core groups like the University of the West Indies, Catholics for a Free Choice and the Ministry of Health.

FPATT was also given the opportunity to come up with a new project to gain access to funding through the IPPF Innovation Fund. FPATT was one of the four entries whose proposal was accepted for funding for a period of three years. There were a total of sixty four entries. The project centres on providing access to sexual and reproductive healthcare for sex workers. This project is the first of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago, and is also a pioneering step for FPATT in developing a specialised programme for targeting marginalised groups.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

FPATT was fortunate to make the acquaintance of the Mary Tidlund Foundation in 2005. A special team from the Foundation came to Trinidad in late 2005 to provide services on the Outreach programme. The team included Dr Violet Shad, Dr Glenn Gould, Lori Wilson, Lise Brise-Beadouin, Nicole Entz and Mary Tidlund. Together with the FPATT Outreach staff, the team visited areas like Barrackpore, Indian Walk, Rampanalgas, Korea and San Francique. They provided complementary medical services like diabetes testing, alternative contraceptive methods, prostate examinations and complete medical examinations.

Our Tobago clinic became part of the Outreach in 2005, due to staffing constraints on the sister island. Nurses from Trinidad flew to Tobago on Mondays and Fridays to attend to clients. FPATT has partnered with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) in order to get the clinic up and running full time by the end of 2006.

The THA has given tremendous support to FPATT, in coming up with solutions for providing sexual and reproductive healthcare to Tobagonians.

EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE SYMPOSIUM

FPATT in collaboration with Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity (ASPIRE), Men Against Violence Against Women and the Rape Crisis Centre, held a symposium on Emergency Contraceptive as the first step in Advocacy around the issue. The symposium was held on 29th November, 2005 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, to commemorate International Day Against Violence Against Women with over 42 NGOs participating. The main objective of the symposium were: to increase education and access to emergency contraceptives for all women, to decrease the sigma associated with EC for all women, to ensure that EC is widely known to the population of Trinidad and Tobago and to build alliances with other NGOs and media to spread accurate information about EC.

DR JACQUELINE SHARPE

FPATT's President, Dr Jacqueline Sharpe almost brought the Association to tears by being elected chairman of the Board of IPPF/WHR and before there was time to celebrate this achievement, she was appointed as President of IPPF Worldwide. Her accomplishments were celebrated in style at the home of Chairman Mr. Gerry Brooks, with her friends and co-workers. Staff also got an opportunity to express their congratulations in a small ceremony.

She has been associated with FPATT for the past twenty-two (22) years and is recognized as a leading figure in the work of family planning and sexual reproductive health issues. Her work with adolescents and parents in the Caribbean is widely acknowledged.

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Arthur Esdele has always been a special individual to the staff of FPATT, but in 2005 he made the Association especially proud when he won over the hearts of the visiting physicians from the Mary Tidlund Foundation. They group saw in Arthur, the amazing qualities that has made him dear to the Association for years. Arthur was named Employee of the Year 2005.

The following is an excerpt sent by Mary Tidlund Foundation about Arthur:

寰le seemed to trust him right away and he seemed equally comfortable listening and laughing, or listening compassionately to some person's story.ﳰan>