1. Lyn SIYA
Founder of the L.I.F.E. Newsletter
Dear Readers,
L.I.F.E. presents us with all types of challenges everyday.It is not the magnitude of the
challenges but how we overcome them when they have arrived that empowers us. In this
edition, L.I.F.E. seeks to address how we as individual’s need to eat better in order to
live.A lot of the foods we are consuming are inorganic,high salt and high sugary foods
that can lead to various diseases.
It seeks to urge each and everyone one of us to make better choices in what we eat and
drink and to realise that our health is our wealth and we must treat it with the utmost
care. In this issue we also seek to empower our young women to refuse the negative and
embrace the positive in their behaviours.
A heath directory is also included for locals and visitors to Barbados who are living with
or know someone who has a particular health issue and may need some additional ad-
vice or assistance pertaining to their challenge. Thank you for your time, love and sup-
port in reading the L.I.F.E. Newsletter. Any queries and comments you may have can be
emailed to: thelifenewsletter@yahoo.com.
NEWSLETTER
L.i.f.e.
I S S U E # 7 M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
REAL TALK–2 POETIC CORNER-4
FOR MY YOUNG SISTERS-3 HEALTH DIRECTORY-5

2. P A G E 2
REAL TALK
L . I . F . E .
EATING TO LIVE
“Let Food be thy medicine and medicine thy Food.”-Hippocrates
As long as mankind have been on the earth we have always had the
innate desire for food. Across the globe we all consume food whether
it is fruits and vegetables or fast food. However, despite this fact of
life, what we are consuming daily does affect us. We need food to sur-
vive but what you are putting into your mouth can either enhance
your life or be detrimental to it. Cancers, diabetes, stroke and heart
disease are just a few of the many maladies that can arise from poor
dietary practices.
The human body is comprised of several cells and organs that need
nutrients in order for them to execute their necessary functions.
Many although being aware of what the body needs insist on poison-
ing it daily with the fast food, Trans fat foods, high sugar foods and
salty foods all of which are filled with preservatives which can cause
damage to precious cells and organs in the body thus putting one’s
health in the red.
In various parts of the world many consider malnutrition to be the
lack of food but is it really? Many consider Africa to be the only place
that malnutrition takes place however malnutrition is taking place all
over the world. I see malnutrition not as how much food is on one’s
plate but the quality of food that one’s eating. Someone in Africa can
have a handful of natural plants plentiful with iron, calcium and zinc
everyday and still be a lot healthier than someone in a home in the
Caribbean feasting on white rice and chicken.
We lose a lot of vital nutrients from our foods through our prepara-
tion techniques. When food is cooked at either too low or high a tem-
perature our bodies lose out big time; preferably food should be
cooked at 118 °F so that the necessary enzymes that the body needs
would not be lost in preparation; steaming vegetables for too long un-
til they become soggy is a big No; vegetables should still be crunchy
after steaming or can be eaten raw.
Meat and diary products can greatly hamper one’s health, eliminating
sugar and sugary foods would be nice because they feed cancer cells
and replacing white flour, bread, pasta and rice with whole grains
would greatly be an enhancer to anyone's diet. Therefore, I encourage
every reader to make healthier choices when selecting food.

3. FOR MY YOUNG SISTERS
P A G E 3I S S U E # 7 M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5
EMBRACING THE POSITIVE AND REJECTING THE NEGATIVE
As young women we are all called to be held to certain standards. However, when I look at
various social media sites such as YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter I see the
level of disrespect being shown by several young ladies towards themselves and others.
What messages are being sent to others when we as young women are not showing the
kind of behavior we know we should be demonstrating as future wives and mothers?
What fuels young women to want to use twerking, stripping, fighting and various forms of
lewd sexual conduct in online videos to gain popularity? It all goes back to one’s home set-
ting. Values, love, morals and discipline should be instilled in one’s life from the time that
they are a child. But for some young women this was not a reality in their homes so many
of them use these behaviors as a way to express themselves. This should signal to each
and everyone one of us instead of passing judgment see where we can lend our assistance.
I urge all young women to get close to and follow positive influences because channeling
yourself in this direction can better your life in the long run.
When we examine the lives of Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman,
and Sojourner Truth; these were women who stood for positivity. They fought for what
they believed in and was not deterred from their mission. We all as young women can
learn from these women; if you to do not have any role models you can look up to and mo-
tivate you to strive for positive goals, please take some time to research who these women
were and how they were able to transform their lives by embracing the positive and reject-
ing the negative.

4. P A G E 4 Poetic Corner Lyn-Marie Blackman (OCTOBER 2014)
I WRITE FOR GIRLS
I write for Girls who are being disrespected
I write for Girls who are being oppressed
I write for Girls who are being mutilated
I write for Girls who feel like they are not loved
I write for Girls who are making it despite their circum-
stances
I write for Girls who are being told that being black is not
beautiful
I write for Girls who are pressing towards obtaining an
education
I write for Girls who are dreaming big and making it into
their reality
I write for Girls who aspire to be good mothers, wives and
friends
I write for Girls who are jumping over obstacles everyday
I write for Girls who are loving, caring and kind
I write for Girls who will be the future leaders of their com-
munities.
L . I . F . E .

5. Health Directory
Caribbean HIV & AIDS Alliance (CHAA)
Barbados Country Office
General HIV and AIDS Information and Service advice
Tel: (1246)228-4306 /4205
HIV Support Groups
Ladymeade Reference Unit (LRU), Ladymeade Gardens
Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael
Tel: (1246) 437-8215
United Gays and Lesbians Against AIDS Barbados (UGLAAB)
Vashti Inniss Empowerment Centre
General HIV and AIDS Information and Service advice.
Tel: (1246)426-3323
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
HIV care and treatment including services to assist in the Prevention of Mother -to- Child transmission-
(PMTCT)
Tel: (1246)436-6450
The HIV Food Bank
Nutrition Education, Nutrition Assessment and Food Assistance
Tel: (1246) 467-9399, 467-9505
The Ladymeade Reference Unit
Voluntary Counseling and Testing, HIV care and treatment including services to assist in the Preven-
tion of Mother –to– Child transmission -(PMTCT).
Tel :( 1246)417-2821
Barbados Cancer Society
Tel: (1246) 436-8888
Barbados Family Planning Association
Tel: (1246) 426-2027
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados
Tel: (1246) 437-3312
PAHO/WHO
Office of Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Countries
Tel: (1246) 426-3860