For the 20th year, the Washington-based Pacific Lutheran University has partnered with the Tobago House of Assembly’s Division of Health to facilitate an internship programme.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the internship programme, Deputy Chief Secretary with responsibility for Health and Wellness, Dr. Faith Brebnor, said the THA recognises the importance of the training initiative and will continue to support.
“It benefits us in a synergistic way, so let us simply continue. Twenty years of doing this shows that something good is happening, and I hope that in time we would look back and say, ‘This is 50 years of doing this, this is a hundred years of doing this’ because we truly understand how important these kinds of interactions are.”
The Division of Health and Wellness previously included the Social Protection Department, where nine interns were engaged in over a two-week period.
“This included of course engagement with our behavioural, health, children and family services, diversity and inclusion, human development, social support and probation services units. Such comprehensive exposure provided a holistic understanding of how social protection functions in practice and how interconnected our services truly are.”
PLU Supervisor Angie Hambrick said Tobago demonstrated that there are different ways to accomplish a task and slowing down is necessary.
“This place, Tobago, you all, have offered us over the past 20 years the opportunity for us to be better humans, to resist these notions that hold us back.”
Expressing gratitude, the interns shared the experience and taught them to be free and positive. Dre Knight said it challenged him: “This experience in Tobago didn’t just add something to my resume. It changed the way I show up to work. It taught me that stepping out of my comfort zone isn’t about being fearless. It’s about being willing. Willing to learn, willing to serve, and willing to grow.”
At the end of the programme, the interns enjoyed Trinbagonian entertainment, even shaking a leg in a lively conga line.