SUNDAY 17 DECEMBER, 2017 –
UWI TODAY 100
TH
ISSUE
21
COMMUNITY
For the first time
, the Law Society at UWI St. Augustine has
an executive position for Charity & Outreach. According
to the Chairperson, third-year law student, Marcus Moses,
the Society has informally carried out charity work over the
years, but the most recent executive, along with other law
students, voted to make the post official last year.
This change to the constitutionmeans that the executive
will be bound to bridge more than the gap between faculty
and the student body; they’ll be bound to bridging the gap
between the law faculty, students and the wider community.
The students have already begun projects at two homes
for children: St. Dominic’s Home in Belmont and St. Mary’s
Home in Tacarigua. From September of this year, the
Society organized volunteers to assist children at St. Mary’s
on a weekly basis with homework, reading and writing
and to generally spend quality time with children who are
orphaned or have been victims of crime.
At St. Dominic’s, the students were an integral part of a
project lead by the charity organization, Children’s Ark. For
ten weeks last year, the Children’s Ark, Law Society and a
host of local artists conducted an arts programme with the
St. Dominic’s residents. The programme included visual,
theatre and literary arts. At the end of the 10-week period,
children were also treated to a closing exhibition.
For each project that the Society carried out they’ve
had sterling mentors. In addition to the Professor Rose-
Marie Belle Antoine, Dean of the Law Faculty, Children’s
Ark founder, Simone de la Bastide and even attorney-at-law
and wife of the PrimeMinister, Sharon Rowley have worked
closely with the Society to ensure their success. Antoine and
Rowley are both UWI alumni.
Law Society President, third-year student Ayanna
Norville said she was touched not only by volunteering,
but also by receiving mentorship in service. “These women
are all successful professionals and just the fact that they
would take the time to collaborate with us and guide us
through these initiatives was an honour. They became like
mothers to us and were great role models and really should
be applauded for showing us that life is more than law,” said
Norville.
The experience of bonding with children from a
marginalized group in society was transformative, according
to Norville. “When we first went to the homes and got to
learn more about the backgrounds of the children there,
it really made me realize that not everyone is as fortunate
as you. There are people whose only focus is finding their
parents and that really pulls you away from your world. It
UWI LAW SOCIETY
ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS 2016-2017 EXECUTIVE TEAM
President.........................................................................................................................
Ayanna Norville
Vice President................................................................................................................
Michael Modeste
Treasurer........................................................................................................................
Jeron O’Brien
Public Relations Officer................................................................................................
Jeron Paul
Secretary.........................................................................................................................
Domonique Bernard
Assistant Secretary........................................................................................................
Hema Cassie
Education and Moot Committee Chairperson.........................................................
Rupa Soondar
Entertainment Committee Chairperson....................................................................
Kimoki Lourenco
Sports Committee Chairperson..................................................................................
Shuzvon Ramdass
Constitutional Committee Chairperson....................................................................
Tariq Headlie
Publications Committee Chairperson. ......................................................................
Alexander Ramdass
Outreach Committee Chairperson.............................................................................
Marcus Moses
Returning Officer..........................................................................................................
Hannah Hylton-Edwards
Trustee............................................................................................................................
Sherisse De Freitas
Members of the UWI Law Society St. Augustine Campus Executive Team with Mrs. Sharon Rowley, centre.
Third from right: Law Society President, Ayanna Norville. Second from right: Law Society Vice President Michael Modeste.
THE LAW OF LIFE
Students choose charity and outreach
B Y Z A H R A G O R D O N
made me more sensitive to society. It was honestly a life-
changing experience,” she said.
Other members of the executive shared similar
sentiments with Norville. Law Society Vice President
Michael Modeste said the experience was eye-opening.
“Working at the home did openmy eyes andmade me more
empathetic to what the children are going through. Society
paints this picture of these children as a waste of time, but
they are quite knowledgeable and it’s only uncontrollable
circumstances that have them in this position,” he said.
“The children are just like you and that’s what stood out to
me. There’s so much stigma surrounding them, but they are
intelligent and passionate.”
Moses was happy to have made an impact on the
children as well. “The responses from the children were
really positive. They were so excited and I think they
benefitted from having younger people around them who
weren’t authoritative figures,” he said.
THE LAW SOCIETY’S
PURPOSE (CHARITY)
To help Law Students reach out to the
wider community through charitable
initiatives. As budding lawyers, we
must not live in a vacuum. We must
always remember that there are people
living in situations where they need
the help and support of others. This
is also a part of becoming a holistic
individual. The ability to be aware of
others’ circumstances and be willing to
empathise and “lend a hand”.
Norville said the St. Mary’s programme, which ended
in November to accommodate students taking exams, was
a pilot programme that will become the blueprint for future
endeavors. She added that the Society was looking into
making their outreach programmes more long term. “One
of the the most challenging things about these initiatives
was that they were short term. It was hard for the kids, and
for us actually, to get attached and build that bond and then
have the programme end so quickly. But what we’re doing
is setting the trend for successive executives to continue.
Continuity would really strengthen these projects,” said
Norville.
The Society will be returning to St. Mary’s in January
to host a “fun day” for children. They will also be repeating
the arts programme at St. Dominic’s once again with the
assistance of Children’s Ark. The Law Society will also
be holding a fundraising event in March from which all
proceeds will go to charitable causes.
