Her life was all about the dollars and cents – juggling the roles of auditor, chartered accountant and financial director over the years. Her specialty was to reengineer companies that were in distress financially. Today Mary Moonan reengineers non-governmental organisations (NGOs), ensuring they are run on best practices.Her first career led her to her second – it was while being involved in the preparation of Childline's proposal to UNICEF for funding. When UNICEF accepted in 2007, the Child Protection Specialist asked Moonan, "who is going to run this?" She replied, "Well somebody," never thinking that it would be her. The Specialist however had observed Moonan's sensitivity on issues, which was far stronger than many who had been trained in psychology and behavioral sciences. They also both agreed that NGOs needed to have a more business-like and professional approach to the way they ran organisations and the way they managed funds – so Moonan took up the mantle.
It was not unlike anything she had done in her life; after all what appeared as 'pressure' to others was always just a challenge to her. Four years later, Childline has come a long way under her guidance. From an organisation that operated eight hours a day, Monday to Friday, Childline has now expanded its operations to 16 hours a day, every day of the year. The organisation is now funded partly by the government under the Ministry of the People and Social Development, and will soon be under the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development.Moonan's skills in turning things around financially for private sector companies have also been used to network and raise more funds for Childline. Microsoft International (through its local office) has donated US$70,000 in software to set up the organisation's new database and InfoTech has installed and operationalised it for them. All achieved through the steely determination of Moonan.Her exceptional management skills, continuous outreach programmes to children in schools and reform centres has also been noticed both regionally and internationally. Childline is now considered UNICEF's model project in the Caribbean. Not even the Child Protection Specialist who suggested that Moonan take the reins over for a few years anticipated that the organisation would have grown and expanded as quickly as it did.
Under her watch, Childline has reached out to youths in the Youth Training Centre and St. Jude's Home, building relationships and trust with them. From January, she hopes to start a programme at the St. Michael's Home. "It's no longer about sitting in air-conditioned offices and having people come to us. We need to be taking our services to the children," says Moonan. "For example, children in Moruga or Matelot cannot be expected to come to Port-of-Spain or San-Fernando where most of the services are provided. What about the children who are either motherless or fatherless and living in deplorable conditions? This is not acceptable; we would like to bring about some change in this regard together with the help of other stakeholders and the government."Other countries in the region have also approached Moonan to expand Childline's services to the rest of the region. However, Moonan is all about transparency and accountability and knows that funding by the Trinidad and Tobago government cannot be used for services in other countries. Therefore she hopes that funding will be found elsewhere to help her make this offer a reality.
Childline's Hotline:800-4321 (Toll free, 24/7)
Donate to Childline:Account No: 610 433 199 201
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Email Address: childline@gmail.com
To volunteer:Email your resume; one must be qualified or willing to be trained by Childline inthe field you wish tovolunteer.