Her Voice initiative to mentor female wards

WESTERN BUREAU:

Tanya Kentish, Miss St James Festival Queen for 2026, has formally launched her keynote project, the Her Voice mentorship programme, for female wards of the state who need an outlet to share their feelings and experiences that they have not previously been able to express.

Kentish, a former ward of the state, launched the initiative last Friday at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s office in Montego Bay, St James, where she engaged wards in activities such as painting and games as methods of personal empowerment.

“The project originally came into mind around 2024, and originally, it was not called Her Voice, but it was Pink Clouds. Over a period of time, I remember praying about wanting to extend my hands, and I started saying, ‘Okay, I’m already going to the Granville Place of Safety [in Trelawny], but I wonder if there are any other homes to visit apart from the home that I came from, Hebron House in Montego Bay’,” Kentish told The Gleaner.

“I partnered with The Unseen Me, an organisation headed by former Miss St James Festival Queen Shavae Scale, and we started going to the homes more often,” Kentish added. “Over time, I got the name Her Voice for this initiative because young girls in our situation tend to feel silent and do not feel confident enough to speak, and sometimes we are not given the space to talk as well. As a result, when we leave the homes and go out into the world, we experience severe anxiety.”

The Her Voice programme, which Kentish announced as her primary project when she claimed the Miss St James Festival Queen crown on June 27, operates under the slogan ‘She came, she spoke, she conquered’. It teaches girls and young women in state care to be confident in themselves regardless of their living circumstances. It also provides them with avenues for mentorship from older females, including assistance with schoolwork.

“Her Voice gives the young ladies a training ground before they shoot off into the world. For example, currently we have two young girls who recently entered a pageant at Irwin High School, and what we did was to ask them what they were struggling with, whether speech, walking, or talent, and we focused on helping them with their confidence, standing upright, and walking,” Kentish explained.

“When it comes to tutoring, we help the girls with mathematics, [English] language, social studies, and any other area they need help with. If the home where the girls reside texts us and it says, ‘We have a young girl struggling with this subject’, we see how we can facilitate helping her,” Kentish added. “We choose either a Friday when she comes from school, a Saturday when she is at the home, or maybe a Sunday evening, and we come and sit down with her and see how we can make things better.”

Meanwhile, in expressing his support for the Her Voice programme, Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon encouraged Kentish to locate and give support to as many females as possible.

“I am looking forward to this initiative’s continuation, and I hope that you will go into all the crevices and corners and every nook and cranny, and remind young ladies, especially those who need to be reminded, that they have a voice and that they need to be grounded with the norms and values of our society that we have built up traditionally, so that we can drive forward as a nation,” said Vernon.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com