Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti’s landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact. These include Citadelle la Ferrière, a mountaintop fortress, and the nearby ruins of Sans-Souci Palace, the baroque former royal home of King Henry I.
When I heard about the destruction of the Island of Grenada in the West Indies as a result of hurricane Ivan on 07/09/2004 and later hurricane Emily, I shared this news with my Primary 4/5 class as we were doing a project on the weather. They were eager to help and they began a small enterprise holding a bring and buy sales to raise money. With this they bought new books and primary school curricular materials . Their entrepreneurial spirit encouraged the rest of the school to follow their example and become involved . This activity also resulted in each pupil of the school filling an A4 wallets with stationery, which resulted in five large card board boxes being air -freighted out to Grand Roy Government School, Grand Roy ,parish of St John Grenada,West Indies in 16/06/2005.
However I felt compelled to do something also practical myself, that would contribute to the relief and reconstruction of that devastated island’s schools. Since 90% of the island of Grenada’s schools were damaged and many beyond repair.
In Scotland the school closures (as a result of the falling birth-rate and national government investment in new-build schemes), and the almost continuous wasteful in my view renewing of educational resources by no means no longer out of date, gave me the idea of recycling these surplus educational resources (textbooks, classroom furniture, IT equipment) where ever possible . This would extend the classroom usefulness of these resources, and perhaps, might also, help to re-equip and aid the recovery of Grenada’s school system, and other schools in the Developing World.. I firmly believed, that here was an opportunity where I could contribute to the reconstruction of at least one Grenadian school.. Over the next five years it was to become five schools:- Grand Roy Government School; Calliste Government School; St Paul’s Government School; the Grenada Boys Secondary School.,Samaritan Presbyterian Primary School,Woburn Methodist School,Woburn St George ,Grenada,W.I
“There is no state, no matter how well resourced that can meet all the needs of an impacted community within a time frame that satisfies individuals.” Jeremy Collymore co-ordinator of The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.
Haiti Relief hope to send over much needed school supplies to help rebuild lives.