Chocolate, mocha, caramel.
Most children have at one point gotten the lecture about the importance of doing well at school and getting an education in their formative years so they can go on to college and land a good job.
But in those talks, one of the most neglected topics of discussion is the importance of self-esteem.
When parents fail to talk to and help their daughters develop their sense of self-worth and self-esteem, this can leave them open and vulnerable to many different things.
In an age when most people consider dark skin color and kinky hair to be unattractive, Yolanda Darville and Anita Bain are doing their part to ensure that Bahamian brown girls develop a healthy view of themselves, celebrate their respective shades of brown and build their self-esteem.
Darville and Bain, co-leaders of the Pretty Brown Girls Club (PBGC) #14, launched the club - which is geared towards girls ages six to 12 - in March 2013 to give the girls an avenue through which they can learn to dream big and remember that they are beautiful inside and out.
It also serves to help them to enjoy learning and laughing, to always believe in themselves, make healthy choices, serve their community, build confidence and develop a well-rounded world view as it relates to others.
The club aims to ensure that the girls develop pride and know that they are beautiful inside and out.
Into its second year, PBGC is hosting its first conference under the theme "Building Leaders From the Inside Out" and is taking its message beyond its membership. The conference will be open to girls six to 16 as well as their mothers. It will take place on Saturday, May 3 at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.
Workshop topics will focus on self-esteem and leadership, media images and the impact on young girls, as well as a workshop on the girls' vision for the future and how they can crystallize their visions.
"There will be activities based on overall health -- mental health, physical health, feeling good about themselves as young women," said Darville.
"The conference is our effort to reach out to the broader community. Our idea was to not just serve the [club members]. We wanted to expand the age for the conference, but we also wanted to serve their mothers because for girls, their first image of beauty and their idea of self-esteem and good mental health comes from their mothers.
The half-day conference, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. will focus on leadership and self-esteem for young girls with the club leaders' mission to celebrate the various shades of brown skin colors. The girls will be separated into age groups --six to nine, 10 to 12, 13 to 16 and mothers with age-appropriate activities for each grouping. They will participate in workshops that Darville described as interactive, fun activities and not just sit down events with people talking at them. To begin and end the day, mothers and their daughters will come together to engage in fun activities.
Speaking at the workshop will be Sheri Crawley, founder and CEO of Pretty Brown Girl, LLC as well as Candilaria Thompson, Gayle Barrow, Tiffany Hall, Gandhi Pinder, Simone Gibson, Anastarcia Huyler and Tonette Minnis.
BAF Financial, lead sponsor for the conference will conduct financial workshops for both girls and the women to ensure their financial health.
"What we want [daughters and mothers] to take away is understanding the importance of self-esteem and we want mothers and daughters to start having a running dialogue about self-esteem," said Darville.
"At PBGC we've found that mothers often talk to their children about education, doing well at school, having a great job once you get out of school, going to college, but often neglect to talk to their daughters about self-esteem, and when we don't talk to them about that it leaves them open and vulnerable to lots of different things. We just want to start that dialogue."
In an effort to ensure that the conference is one that all mothers and daughters can take advantage of, Darville said ticket prices have been kept reasonably low with a $5 advance purchase price, $7 at the door, and includes a pastry buffet breakfast and vendor shopping.
"It's our goal to really reach out into the community and to make sure that everyone has access to the information that's going to be shared," she said.
PBGC started with 17 girls and now boasts a 35-strong membership. According to Darville, the girls who started out with the club now exude more confidence.
"We've seen little girls who were shy when they started, and just kind of listened who are now very confident and very outspoken. They love to participate and they really look forward to our once-a-month meeting," she said.
For Darville, the road to the formation of PBGC started when her five-year-old daughter came home from school one day wanting blonde and straight hair. Surprised, she said she spoke to other mothers and found they were experiencing the same thing, and if it wasn't blonde hair, their children wanted to look different from how they looked. Darville and her daughter's godmother, Anita Bain, searched online for a program or club to help deal with Darville's daughter's issue and they came across PBGC, which was established in Detroit, Michigan by married couple Sheri and Corey Crawley. Their mission was to encourage girls to celebrate the beautiful shades of brown while inspiring positive self-esteem and confidence.
In a story line that runs similar to Darville's, Crowley recognized the need in addressing the harmful issues about skin tone and beauty in media and the PBG movement was sparked. Through PBG club, girls are encouraged to celebrate the beautiful shades of brown while inspiring positive self-esteem and confidence.
The Nassau branch of the PBGC was the first to be established internationally. There were 30 branches in the United States last year.

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