Think Creative Issue 8

Behind the Mask

Kezia’s Community Enhancement Committee has reached out to neighbors in need.

Juana shares information about COVID-19 with patients outside a health clinic.

Campaigning for youth engagement Kezia St. Brice

At age 24, Kezia St. Brice was only a few months into her role as chairperson of the Community Enhance- ment Committee in her hometown of Castries, Saint Lucia, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the island nation. Kezia — also a full-time youth worker with Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Youth Development and Sports — worries about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on young people. Out of work and out of school, they are more vulnerable to getting involved in crime. So, she finds creative ways to keep young people engaged in positive activities. In May, for example, she led the launch of the Face Mask Challenge. This online competition called on the youth of Castries — Saint Lucia’s capital — to design and create a unique face mask. The challenge both raised awareness about the importance of wearing a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus and showcased participants’ creativity and talent. The top three designers were given added fabric and materials and produced much-needed masks later donated throughout the community. “It gave youth the opportunity to shine,” Kezia says. Kezia and the committee, one of 15 established across three Caribbean countries through the USAID Community, Family and Youth Resilience program, are also responding to the immediate need for food and supplies in their community. They provided plates, cups, utensils and other kitchen supplies to the nearby temporary homeless shelter, where government resources were stretched from providing three free meals a day. Identifying a gap in services, the group also put together and distributed care packages with food to people with disabilities or chronic health issues. Kezia says that facing a crisis like COVID-19 demon- strates the unique needs of young people — and the many ways they can contribute to their communities. “If people know how to motivate themselves, they can make a difference in their families and also in their communities. It starts with you,” she says. “The more empowered youth that we have, the more they will empower others.” n

Responding to a community in crisis Juana Aguirre Escobar

When Choluteca, Honduras, confirmed its first COVID-19 case, Juana Aguirre Escobar was one of the municipality’s frontline healthcare workers treating the patient. Juana has been a nurse for more than 30 years, caring for patients with high rates of diabetes, tuberculosis and poor nutrition. But the virus has re- quired a whole new level of response in a region dealing with an already struggling healthcare system. “I had just given trainings on treating (COVID-19) cases, but I thought it was only theory,” she says. “We entered into an unknown world.” Juana is the coordinator of 10 health- care centers around Choluteca, which is part of Honduras’ Dry Corridor region. She has mobilized her team to perform COVID-19 tests, spread prevention messaging in remote communities and continue providing care to patients who can no longer come to the clinics.

By ATV or pickup truck, she brings food to families whose conditions prevent them from leaving their homes. Juana also uses the urgency of the pandemic to “tocar puertas” or knock on doors of organizations she would not ordinarily visit to get more support for clinics and communities. In Choluteca, improving health services is critical. For the past few years, she has partnered with Creative’s project ACS-PROSASUR to do community health outreach in rural areas where child malnutrition rates are high and maternal health education is a priority. Juana herself is no stranger to battling illness. She has been in remission from cancer for 18 months. “Even though cancer touched me … it was nothing,” she says. “It only made me more compassionate towards those who really need help.” n

Photos by Victor Mercado Perez (Juana); Kezia St. Brice

16 | Think Creative | Fall 2020