This year, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, called on the world to focus on the importance of empowering women and girls with autism. In keeping with this appeal, Soroptimist International San Fernando partnered with the Mayor of the City of San Fernando to host the first Light It Up Blue event for Autism Awareness and Acceptance. The programme included chalk art for children and their families.  All children, parents, invited guests, and supporters were treated to performances by the National Center for Persons with Disabilities Ensemble (NCPD) and four singers from The Trebles of T&T. Suzette Neptune-Fortune, one of the parents of an autistic child who attends the monthly workshops, performed a skit in which she made an impassioned appeal against discrimination, and advocated for the rights and fundamental freedoms of autistics to be legislated by the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Immediate Past

On January 20th, 2018 the ladies of SI Newtown excitedly began their upgrade project on the library at El Socorro Primary Government School. Their relationship with El Socorro began during their Literacy Day Project for 2017, when they selected this primary school as the recipient of several boxes of books donated to the school’s library. With a clear path in mind, the ladies of SI Newtown structured a plan, in two phases, and set out on a mission to Make Reading Fun! Their “Knowledge Is Power” concept was inspired by the mandate of Soroptimists to… Educate, Empower, Enable. The first phase, on January 20th, was aimed at completing the “Knowledge Corner”—a space for infants to Relax and Read. This space was deliberately done to be visually appealing with bright colours. The club purchased, and installed brightly-coloured interlocking soft foam tiles; added a large bean bag