Young, vibrant and diverse. This is how the members of the Rotaract Club of Gros Islet view themselves. President Teffany Edward, who has taken over the leadership of the club, says, “we have come a long way from the pandemic days of having remote meetings. We are really looking forward to fellowship in person. This year, we pledge to Think Big, as mandated by the theme for the 2022-2023 Rotaract year. We will continue the work started by the last board, focusing on building a strong team that understands the value in giving good service.”
While members chose to let fellowship lead the way and remain at the heart of club activities last year, they were able to step up to the plate to successfully execute a number of projects.
One of the more impactful of these was the CPR project executed in the community of Anse la Raye. Immediate Past President Edsel Theodore says “about 30 participants benefitted from information presented by trainers and we are very happy that as the final project for the 2021-2022 Rotaract year, this was a huge success. We teamed up with CEO and perspective member Andre Cleghorn of HTEC Solutions, also one of the trainers, to deliver this programme. On the ground we got help from Magnus Deboville, a community leader, who was able to mobilise the participants each of whom received certificates for participation.”
Another major undertaking was through a Zoom presentation on the Childhood Obesity Prevention Programme. Professional Development Director Javelle Alcide, in speaking to the success of this programme, said, “technology was used to enhance the project reach to students from a number of schools. These included students from the Ave Maria Girls Primary, Dame Pearlette Louisy Combined, Boguis Combined the Vide Bouteille and Odsan Combined Primary schools. This was particularly challenging because these primary school children and teachers were present for this online learning initiative from their homes as schools had not reopened after the pandemic. Nadege Atkins, a former teacher and holder of a Masters in Public Health was the featured guest speaker.” This was a joint project executed with the Rotaract Club of Saint Lucia.
Under the new board for the 2022-2023 Rotaract year, members are hoping to increase literacy through a number of exciting initiatives including investing in libraries for schools, a book drive, and in true spirit of thinking big, are already exploring the possibility of including older people in literacy classes and holding sessions on financial literacy.
The present board comprises President – Teffany Edward; Vice President – Jean-Christophe Combie; Immediate Past President – Edsel Theodore; Treasurer – Jilayne Clery-King; Community Service Director – Jeannick Augustin and Professional Development Director – Javelle Alcide.
Members anticipate continuing with the now successfully tried and tested CPR training in August 2022 as well as other projects in the following months, which include plans for their annual Christmas toy drive. They hope to continue to strengthen community and corporate connections through lasting relationships and sponsorship in order to expand their reach nationally, while growing the membership and giving service.
As young responsible adults, they will continue to “pay the rent … for being tenants on this earth”, words aptly inspired by Muhammad Ali.