Mrs Juliette Gooding-Michelin, Honorary Consul to Barbados in the Cayman Islands, was honoured in Barbados on Wednesday 11th January at an official awards ceremony hosted by the Governor General of Barbados.  She received the Honour of the Gold Crown of Merit (GCM).  The award was for the promotion of Barbados and her humanitarian efforts.

Ms Gooding-Michelin who was nominated by a the members of a Caymanian organisation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expresses her gratitude to those who thought sufficient of her work and took the time to have her personal and Consular efforts recognised.

Mrs Gooding-Michelin began her Secondary education in Barbados before moving to the United Kingdom where she completed secondary and tertiary education.  In 1997 she was certified in Medical Management of Disasters from the University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, in association with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). In keeping with her humanitarian interests, she trained in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and crisis intervention, with broad focus on Law Enforcement Line of Duty Death; CISM Application with Children and Corporate Crisis Response. She is a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF).

Mrs Gooding-Michelin also attended the Cayman Islands Law School and after taking a break she is again working to complete her law degree.

On leaving England Mrs Gooding-Michelin moved to the Cayman Islands where she worked in the Department of Education prior to becoming the first Director of the Cayman Islands 9-1-1 Emergency – Public Safety Department.  After twelve years in this role she was selected as Project Coordinator to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Government, where she established their 9-1-1 centre and implemented an island wide emergency radio communications structure and system to serve all emergency response agencies and the airports.  She provided a long-term plan to ensure that all phases of the 9-1-1 and radio communications systems continue to completion.  She also led the TCI street naming and house numbering project, and prepared the guidelines and protocols which were eventually written into law and which has been hailed as a success in reducing response times to emergency incidents.  In addition, Mrs Gooding-Michelin is a member and Instructor of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO).  She trained the earlier team of Cayman Islands 9-1-1 dispatchers but now teaches customer service skills, 9-1-1 dispatch and disaster response to  emergency service personnel overseas .She provides Critical Incident Stress Debriefing to law enforcement officers overseas when called upon.  Mrs Gooding-Michelin received certification in Air Accidents Response Training offered by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigative Branch (AAIB), a course which prepares students with guidance in preparation for the Management of an aircraft accident scene pending investigation by the AAIB.

During her years in Turks and Caicos, Juliette Gooding-Michelin took two young girls under her wing and provided them with guidance and counselled them.  She assisted with text books for school, monitored their homework — awarded them for good grades – and says she would love to have been able to adopt those children.

She is the founding member of the Barbados Overseas Association in the Cayman Islands, formed in 1990, becoming its first President, and is instrumental in helping to raise funds for various humanitarian and educational needs.  She consistently seeks donations from businesses and Barbadian/Caymanians, to provide food, Christmas gifts, clothing or other assistance to persons in need, particularly families with young children both in the Cayman Islands and Barbados. She is involved in several community projects and is deeply devoted to helping young people in her community.  She shares her Barbadian culture with the Cayman community and encourages travel to the Island so that visitors can have a first-hand experience to the rich heritage she treasures.

She was amongst the first Board of Directors with Cayman Against Substance Abuse (CASA) and was an instructor of the Parent to Parent Programme.  She worked alongside Mrs Mary Rowlandson who was then President of CASA; the late Mrs Eve Flowers the Youth to Youth Director and Mrs Karin Thompson, Attorney-at-Law who also served on the Board during her tenure

Mrs Gooding-Michelin was appointed Honorary Consul to Barbados in the Cayman Islands in 1995 and through her office has served the Barbadian community with distinction.

She has also served the Cayman Islands well not only as a Civil Servant but personally as one who is dedicated to helping and encouraging young Caymanians to reach their full potential.

She is married to Mr. Robert Michelin and is the proud mother of one biological son, Jonathan Ebanks and community mother to many others!