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August 2009
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 At a time where most depictions of society’s youth are negative, 22-year-old entrepreneur, Toni Thorne, CEO of BoUiK and graduate of The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, has assembled a small team with a fresh new approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS. Viewing social responsibility as a vital aspect of modern business, she identified the need to give back to society with the nonprofit venture Martha’s Smile.
Statistics confirm that globally, the Caribbean ranks second only to Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, making it possibly society’s biggest threat, particularly to our reproductive sectors. Motivated by this harsh reality, the Martha’s Smile initiative, seeks to use creativity to assist Martha’s Home, a subsidiary of the Mustard Seed Communities. As a private home in Jamaica, it is responsible for approximately thirty HIV infected children who have either been abandoned or orphaned. However, in a sad twist of fate, in March ofthis year Martha’s home was burnt to the ground; thus the initiative was conceptualized to contribute to the restoration process. “Jamaica was responsible for a large amount of the exposure we received as a small company in the Caribbean fashion industry. We simply had to do something to give back to the lovely community there; ideally, it is a regional effort. I think everyone knows someone suffering from the stigma and health effects of HIV/AIDS,” said Thome. Under the project, which is already turning heads, dance and music lessons will be provided to the home’s charges for at least a year. Additionally, BoUiK intends to host an Art Day where the children will be asked to paint and dye an all-white collection donated by the Caribbean’s best designers. This collection will then be showcased and auctioned amidst all its deserving glitz and glamour in late September in Jamaica. All proceeds from the fashion show, which has thus far been endorsed by The Jamaica Child Development Agency, Jamaica Association of Young Professionals, Toy Box Charity Foundation and Mustard Seed Communities, the Love Campaign and Pulse Caribbean, would then be donated to Martha’s Home. Clearly, Martha’s Smile is contagious as designers from as far as Columbia, in the likes of Alfonso Mendoca, the project’s official accessories designer, are “ecstatic” that they could be a part of something that combines their passion with such a noble purpose. Other fashion icons involved include, Trinidad’s Claudia Pegus and Heather Jones, St Vincent’s Tamiko Browne, Guyana’s Andrew Harris and Sonia Noel, Jamaica’s Poshe and Kumba and from Barbados Rojoe, Fetish by Cassandra Mottley, Fifth Element, Kaye Applewaithe, Kingley Thorne, Nefertari, Pat Blackman, Pat Brathwaite, Pauline Bellamy, Posh Punk by Antonio Cumberbatch, Shakad by Shanika Burnett, Sharon James, Simon Foster, 3rd Revolt, Wayne Smith.
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