Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
National award winner Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh has called on women to embrace their resilience and use their innate potential to chart their own pathways.
Mowlah-Baksh was among those who were awarded the Medal for the Development of Women (Silver) for her decades of advocacy in advancing gender equality, peace, and community empowerment during Wednesday’s National Awards ceremony at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, Mowlah-Baksh said, “This award is not mine, but it belongs to all those women whom I have engaged with, partnered with, shared stories and experiences with, and those who I learnt from in my 40-year journey. The recognition should be theirs since I was only a vessel to amplify their voices and speak their truth.”
Saying her story is not extraordinary, Mowlah-Baksh explained, “It can be the story of other women who endured and continue to endure surmountable challenges. You can chart your own pathway, and if you look around, there are people and organisations out there who can support you because you already have that innate potential which you use daily, contributing to family and community.”
Mowlah-Baksh’s national recognition comes after more than 40 years of activism, much of it through the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, where she currently serves as general manager.
The organisation supports survivors of domestic violence, engages in policy and advocacy, and leads public education programmes. Since joining in 2017, Mowlah-Baksh has steered its efforts to give women not just protection, but a platform.
Reflecting on the honour, she insisted the award belongs to all the women she has worked alongside.
“Along the course of my life, many women imprinted on me and contributed to my worldview—from my mother Dulcie, to the late Jessie Kesraj, to my sister Folade Mutota, and other women in the women’s movement. I also credit my revolutionary thinking to Dr Knolly Clarke and my husband, David Mowlah-Baksh.”
She said her journey began as a teenager in the Presbyterian Church, where she was introduced to liberation theology and the idea of service.
From grassroots projects in rural communities to the now-defunct CEPAC in the 1980s, and later with the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD), she took on issues ranging from pre-schools and reproductive health to the gendered impacts of gun violence.
Her commitment eventually brought her into politics. Between 1996 and 2013, she served as a councillor and deputy mayor of San Fernando, mediating among communities and even gangs, while pushing for social justice in governance. Internationally, she has worked with Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth, the International Civil Society Action Network, and the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership, networks dedicated to peacebuilding and security.
She has also been recognised globally, including being named a Women Peace Maker by the Joan B Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in San Diego.
Mowlah-Baksh said the award is not an endpoint but a reminder of what remains to be done as communities have the power to transform, and women stand at the centre of that change.