Phase 2 - The Love and Laugher Retreat

The Step Up 4 Armadale 

Love and Laughter Retreat May 22nd 2014   

Cocona Beach Cottage, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth

Since the tragic fire at Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre on the 22nd of May 2009, the 53 young women who survived had not received any prolonged psychological or therapeutic support. Since the traumatic event, every year on the anniversary, the survivors are reminded of the event which for some has permanently scarred their lives.

In the past there have been formal and informal meet-ups which the girls have reported have been unsatisfactory and have not met their needs.

The Step Up 4 Armadale Project from Pure Potential is committed to the Armadale survivors’ healing. Therefore, for the fifth anniversary of the fire, we designed a healing retreat for these young women and their children. The focus was on life, love, laughter and healing.

The one-day retreat exposed the girls to a variety of healing modalities including: womb healing yoga and life coaching.

We also launched our Big Mama - Big Sister mentoring program in which mature professionals will begin a programme of mentoring the girls on Mother-Daughter issues.