Pressure Group Now Soufriere Hospital Benefactor

An organization which was started three years ago, primarily to raise awareness over the death of a young man who was a patient at the Soufriere Hospital has found itself raising assistance for that institution.

CharkarAttieEsnard, President of Team Unite Organisation last week made a donation of grocery items, kitchen utensils, electrical appliances, a refrigerator and a four burner stove to the Soufriere Hospital.

Team Unite Organisation which is from Morne La Croix in Soufriere has been in existence since 2013. Esnard stated that the main aim of the organisation was to create employment for its members.

She said: “When one of our members Daniel Esnard, who was my brother, died in 2014 we decided to change the name to Team Unite because he had operated a boat under the name Unite. From there we advocated for better health care at the Soufriere Hospital because we were not pleased with the way he was treated medically after he received a stab wound. So we went to advocate for better health care, also promoting peace. We did have a march against crime and violence and of course we continued to create employment for our members.”

The donation, Esnard added, was the result of a fund raiser held in February 2015 along with the philanthropic support from a visiting Scottish couple to the island. Esnard thanked the many supporters and sponsors for the success of the fund raising event and apologized for the delay in presenting the donated items.

“With a number of items needed at the hospital we were not sure as to where to start. Some people suggested that we put the money in a fund and let it grow but then we met the family from Scotland who were staying at Sugar Beach Resort in Soufriere, and they decided to purchase the refrigerator and stove for the hospital.

Team Unite then decided to fully equip the hospital kitchen and purchased a number of items including cupboards, groceries, examination lamps, some X-ray viewer boxes among other things.

Esnard also indicated that the Soufriere Hospital will also benefit from a bank account in the name “The of the Daniel Esnard Foundation. This account is being opened upon the request of a family out of Canada whose son will be running a marathon in England to raise funds for the Foundation.

Assistant Principal Nursing Officer attached to the Soufriere Hospital,Benedicta Payne expressed gratitude for the donation on behalf of the Soufriere Hospital and the Ministry of Health.

“We are really excited that you have decided to make Soufriere Hospital the beneficiary of your organisation by donating many items. We will make very good use of it and we are also pleased to have that partnership with the community, the residents of Soufriere. We know we have had some very trying circumstances but we’re hoping with this initiative we can bridge that gap and continue to foster partnerships and cooperation and coordination between us and the community.”

Niké St. Clair, Human Resource Officer in the Ministry of Health added that such partnerships will assist the Ministry in providing improved services to the people of Saint Lucia.

She said: “We embrace such initiatives from members of the public because we are faced with financial constraints and when we receive such items it helps alleviate some of the burdens that we are faced with”.