Staff Matters

The year 2000 saw yet another Staff member - Catherine Shepherd - achieving ten years service with CAFRA. The event was celebrated at a special event following the CAFRA Regional Meeting. Dr. Rhoda Reddock, CAFRA’s former Chairperson, read the citation on behalf of Staff and members.

"We are here tonight to celebrate Cathy’s tenth anniversary in CAFRA’s employ, however, her bond with CAFRA began long before she became a member of Staff. She has been involved with women’s organisations since 1981, and was a founding member of the Concerned Women for Progress in 1981 and The Group in 1983. It was only natural that she gravitated towards CAFRA, joining the Association in 1986, and becoming a member of the Documentation Sub-Committee responsible for the Creation Fire Anthology.

In 1990, the CAFRA Secretariat was situated on Harris Street in Curepe and when the then Administrative Officer, Tina Johnson, left Trinidad and Tobago for Mexico, Cathy was offered the post of ’Administrative Officer/Documentalist’. She accepted and CAFRA acquired a gem. In March 1997 her position was reclassified to ’Information Officer’, but she continues to function in many roles, in her capacity as part of the CAFRA Secretariat’s Management Team.

The past ten eyars have been marked by many memorable experiences for Cathy; high times, low times and yes, even dark times. However, she advised that all her memorable experiences were not fit for public consumption.

One experience which stands out for her is the 1993 General Meeting in Guyana, where there was representation from all four language areas. Founding members were honoured and CAFRA’s first Chairperson was elected. It was a milestone event and many of CAFRA’s firsts were celebrated.

The launching of Creation Fire in 1990 is also fondly remembered, since it was conceptualised in 1986 and took four long years to come to fruition. Another memorable event was during the debate of the Domestic Violence Bill in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament in 1991. She was part of a group of CAFRA members who, dressed in black, staged a silent protest in Parliament to protest the "watering down" of the bill.

Working with CAFRA, Cathy has acquired knowledge and skills she would not have otherwise had the opportunity to. She has learnt to be very flexible in terms of job responsibilities, and the myriad of tasks she may be called upon to do - from writing press releases and organizing events, to woring on different projects such as the UN Inter-Agency Campaign for Women’s Human Rights and the development of CAFRA’s web site.

She has also had the opportunity to represent CAFRA on various occasions abroad. Two events which made the most impact on her were the Frankdurt Book Fair, held in Germany in 1994 and the International Conference of NGO’s held in Seoul, Korea in 1999. Both were well-organised events which brought together diverse groups of people, and Cathy had the opportunity to network with other organizations with interests similar to CAFRA.

Cathy has many achievements of which to be proud, and the growth of the library between 1991 and now is only one such accomplishment. The library has developed phenomenally in terms of use, and now provides invaluable research tools to UWI students, researchers and other persons interested in women’s issues.

CAFRA News is another of her pet projects, since she has been involved with the Newsletter Committee since its inception. Back then, CAFRA News was published in-house: typed, cut and pasted, photocopied and stapled, and Cathy’s dream is that the Secretariat acquire the technical expertise to return to producing the magazine in-house. She is also particularly proud of CAFRA’s Staff Policy and Procedures Manual, on which she did substantive research.

CAFRA offers Cathy something she would be hard pressed to find elsewhere - freedom and flexibility, and the ability to blend her professional and political interests. However,s he sees the need for an infusion of new blood in the organization, and is concerned with the development of CAFRA National Committees, to ensure representation of its constituents at all levels, and maintenance of a positive image of CAFRA in the region.

There are many things that Cathy wishes for CAFRA in the next 10 years. These include a more secure funding base, a more vibrant programme to support advocacy work, our own building with adequate office space as well as room for growth, and a Resource Centre. She would also like to see CAFRA do more research, in collaboration with other organizations if necessary, and increased use of the Internet for networking among Caribbean feminists in the region and in the Diaspora. She would also like CAFRA to become more involved in research and advocacy around HIV/AIDS, especially with regard to gender issues.

Cathy has seen CAFRA go from a one-room establishment to well-equipped offices. Begging for faxes and photocopies to owning our own fax machine, photocopier and computers. She has a wealth of knowledge about CAFRA’s history and will surely be a vital part of its future.