The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

UNDER the theme ‘He makes everything beautiful in his time,’ Esteem Productions will be hosting ‘The Swan Girls Club’ from July 1 to July 26 at the British Colonial Hilton.

The Swan Girls Club is a company that seeks to elevate the level of self-esteem and self- worth of pre-teen, teenage girls and women.

Rayette McDonald, Founder of Esteem Productions, said their goal is to provide platforms that celebrate a woman’s talents, abilities and physical appearance.

Ms McDonald said: “The Swan Girls Club is a club that has been formed to begin the training process of helping young ladies define themselves and not depend on television or radio to define them. To begin seeing themselves as their creator sees them.”

She said she often views the club as a training ground to help parents and in some cases introduce parents to the importance of ensuring that their daughters begin to value themselves and appreciate their flaws.

Ms McDonald said: “Every day there is someone coming to us to tell us of how their lives have been changed because of something that we may have said, or just by the way a situation may have been handled.

“I am humbled by the young ladies that seek my guidance and in many cases validation because they see me as someone they aspire to be. We see young women that have walked away from some serious situations because they got a revelation of their purpose and worth and importance to the world.

She added: “This organisation is extremely important in this season because we have to look around and see the social ills we are facing. One may ask what correlation is there between the social and moral decay in our country. As women we are the carriers of the seed and the generations to come will come through us. We must begin getting our young women to see themselves in a better light and heighten their self-worth and self-esteem. If we can accomplish that, we will experience better decisions being made.”

Working along with teens and as a primary educator, Ms McDonald said she would usually get to see all that Bahamian young ladies go through.

She said she wanted to be able to start them thinking earlier in their life about the transition from ‘Tween’ to ‘Teen’ and make it a bit easier. This is where the idea of the Swan Girls Club came in.

She said the concept surrounding the literary fairy tale, The Ugly Ducking, was the reasoning behind the name.

“In the club, we will take a walk through the swan’s metamorphosis as we go through our own,” said Ms McDonald.

The girls are expected to join in team building exercises, self esteem building, community service activities, and topics ranging from ‘fruit of the spirit’ to ‘changes in the body.’

Ms McDonald said they will get to take part in a table etiquette course, see tie dye and jewellery making and go on field trips and sessions involving dancing, modelling, drama and photo shoots.

“Our goal for the participants in this year’s programme is the same as our goal for any programme that we do. We desire to foster an environment where great friendships are formed and young ladies leave feeling empowered and inspired,” said Ms McDonald.

She said the girls, ages 7-10, can look forward to a safe environment, trained and concerned instructors, great teaching and lots of fun.

Speaking about why this particular age group was chosen, Ms McDonald said: “The first year of existence the organisation focused on women, in its fourth year we began focusing on the teens, now we have tapped into the preteens. We are not only touching women of the Bahamas, but we are touching the lives of females in the Bahamas, and shortly, the world.”