The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

THE overall aim of the upcoming second annual Mother and Daughter Conference is to have girls and women connect, bond and leave feeling empowered to “Dream Big”.

Like last year, more 200 mothers and daughters are expected to attend the conference this Saturday, which is being hosted by the Pretty Brown Girl Club #14. The event will be held at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel, scheduled to begin at 9am.

According to members of the organisation, it is rare to find a positive, family-friendly environment where mothers can have fun, laugh and learn with their daughters, and this is why there is a need for this conference.

At the conference, there will be interactive sessions, entertainment provided by the ladies of the St Thomas More Choir, prize giveaways and vendor shopping with distinctive items for sale for both mothers and daughters.

There will be opportunities for girls and their moms to bond and learn together, and lots of opportunities for them to have fun and let down their hair with their peers. Organisers have found that the mothers enjoy the girl time just as much as their daughters, if not more.

When asked about the event’s theme, “Dream Big”, Yolanda Darville, co-leader of Pretty Brown Girl Club #14, said it is pretty simple: the club wants girls and women of all ages to love themselves, appreciate the skin that they are in and truly believe that they can achieve anything that they want to achieve.

“Last year we were so excited to have a sold-out event. It was received so well by mothers and daughters that it encouraged us to become even more creative and work harder to inspire girls and women. We’re grateful to the community and our sponsors (BAF Financial, RBC Royal Bank, Rotary Club of South East Nassau, the Bible Book & Gift Centre and British Colonial Hilton) for helping us achieve the dream of a second successful conference,” said Yolanda.

Sharing her enthusiasm regarding this year’s theme, is Anita Bain, co-leader of Pretty Brown Girl Club #14. Anita said it is more than just dreaming big, it is dreaming big with courage, confidence and character.

“We realised that as wonderful as our monthly club meetings are, we can only reach a limited number of girls with our ‘Dream Big’ message. This conference gives us a way to reach out and touch the lives of so many more girls and their mothers. We’ve even priced it at $10 per person so that it is affordable to as many girls and women in the community as possible,” she said.

Anita said she sees the event continuing for many years to come, as girls and women will always need this inspiring message. Anita said future mother and daughter events may have a different format, but they will always have the “Dream Big” message.

Yolanda said girls and women don’t always have an opportunity to hear the message that tells them that they are capable, beautiful and valuable, and at the Pretty Brown Club #14 they believe that it’s important for girls to hear this message starting at a young age. She said their conference events always send this message loud and clear.

“Pretty Brown Girl Club #14 here in Nassau, Bahamas, is constantly doing activities to help build the self-esteem and character of our young club members. In fact, our organisation was selected by the international Pretty Brown Girl organisation out of 100 clubs and named the club of the year because of our innovative activities,” said Yolanda.

Most recently, Pretty Brown Girl Club #14 concluded its annual membership drive and they now have nearly 40 members. This year they kicked off with two exciting events for club members. The first was an International Pretty Brown Girl Day in March where they celebrated Women’s Month by hearing interactive presentations from upcoming female Bahamian leaders. This month, they did a joint Day of Service with RBC Royal Bank employees. The girls and the RBC staff teamed up to clean up Pinewood Park and learn about the importance of caring for the environment.