Miss Dominica 2016 launches platform to promote family life

Miss Dominica 2016, Tasia Floissac, on Wednesday officially launched her platform, Families Influencing Resilient and Empowered Societies (FIRES), which will help promote family life.

“The aim is that this project will bridge the generation gap, between the young and the old, and signify or promote the importance for healthy families in society,” she explained at the launch.

Floissac, who was raised by her grandmother, lamented the lack of respect and values in today’s society.

“One’s family life can either make or break you as an individual. I come from a big, close-knit family, and, unlike many, I have been fortunate to experience the love of my many aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents…Many are not so lucky,” she said. “In fact, things have seemed to change quite a lot… we now have families where both parents are working. We have families challenged by modernization. No longer does a community raise a child… And now, we find that children, youth, and even adults themselves are losing respect for the elderly people in society, and the youth growing up.”

She stated that acts of violence and abuse can be “one way, somehow, can be traced back to the family, and our upbringing.”

Minister of Commerce, Enterprise, and Small Business Development, Roselyn Paul, commended the reigning Queen for her initiative, and underscored the importance of the family unit in society.

“The family, being the basic unit of society plays a critical role in the kind of society that we have, in the kind of society that we inherit. The family, being the unit that assists from very early—from the time a child is born—in the socialization process,” she noted.

The Minister called for individuals and institutions to lend greater support to families which in turn will contribute to a better society.

“I believe that the other institutions of socialization, such as the school, the church, the community is tasked with an even greater supportive, interactive role. I also believe that we cannot be silent on all of these issues that, one way or the other, will affect our lives,” Paul said. “So, therefore, we cannot be silent, or we cannot be passive. Every one of us needs to play our role. So, I see it as very important and critical that, as our brother’s keeper, we have some individual and collective responsibility to provide support to family and children in society. I think the task ahead is tremendous, but even making the difference in one child’s life, in one family life, can impact a whole neighbourhood.”

A team of 40 young volunteers —eight men and 32 women — between the ages of 15 and 25, dubbed the ‘Queen’s Crew’ are to assist in the various activities planned as part of the platform.

The first activity, a beautification project at the Dominica Infirmary Home for the Aged, will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2016.