Monica Smith, Shomica Griffith, Suyne Robins and Lucienne Papa of the Youth and Family Centre.
ST. EUSTATIUS--Youth and Family Centre on St. Eustatius has added two new staff members: Lucienne Papa and Monica Smith. The Centre provides counselling to parents and children, and occasionally gives workshops and special assistance to afterschool programmes. Papa, who is from Curaçao, is a social worker specialised in youth development and educational assistance and youth crime. She is married to Royser Johan Villalobos-Otamendi and they have a two-year-old daughter Roseanne Le-Keysha. “It takes a whole village to raise a child and I’m in it to win it,” said Papa.
Smith graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Social Science with a specialisation in pedagogical and educational care, international social work and community development. She studied in Amsterdam before moving back to Curaçao.
Smith, a mother of two boys, is also vice president of the National Organisation of Welfare Workers NOW Foundation and is also an active member of the American School Council Association (ASCA).
“I have developed ways for working together with other welfare organisations and local companies to bring back the solidarity of a strong community and to enhance the quality of life on St. Eustatius,” Smith said.
