CANTO in collaboration with Trip Wireless will be donating 500 backpacks with school supplies to six schools of the Eastern district on the island. The donations will be made on Thursday May 9th, 2019.
CANTO is the leading platform for the entire ICT industry in the Caribbean which brings together all stakeholders to connect, engage and exchange ideas. It consists of 138 members from 35 countries spanning four continents.
Service Development manager of CANTO, Trica Balthazar said while the contribution may seem small, the items given will go a long way.
She spoke at a press conference held at the Ministry of Trade and Employment conference room at the financial Centre on Tuesday May 8th, 2019.
“The idea was born out of the need to play a role in the hurricanes that seemed to have wreaked havoc over our islands in the last few years,” she said.
“Now what we are seeing as a one-off project blossomed into an ongoing initiative as we recognize the vulnerability of the Caribbean countries through natural disasters. While our contribution of school backpacks with stationary may seem small in the grand scheme of things it was Matt Bevin who said “The ripple effects through small things is extra ordinary”,” Balthazar stated.
She commended the “children and people” of Dominica for “your resilience and bravery after this monster of a disaster” which she described as beyond admirable and pledged CANTO’s support “throughout this journey.”
Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Human Resource, Chandler Hyacinth said help is always needed in her ministry.
“Whenever donations are made, they are always timely and we welcome them because there is always need within the Ministry of Education. We know that our students who are the recipients of these school supplies will certainly show some appreciation for these tokens,” she stated
She said the Ministry of Education and Human Resource is all about providing an environment for every learner to succeed pointing out that success can be measured in various forms.
“We provide serious support to many of our students and it takes the form of text book schemes, transportation, payment of fees, support tuition for study overseas and other forms of territory education. We also provide psychosocial support…emotional support to our students so that they can succeed.”
Hyacinth thanked CANTO and Trip Wireless as well as FLOW and Digicel for contributing towards providing students with support and creating safe and healthy environments for learning.
The schools that will be receiving donations are: Concord Primary School, Atkinson Primary School, Lighthouse Christian Academy, Salybia Primary School, Sineku Primary and Castle Bruce Primary.
Thank you so much. Education especially is one of the areas we all must give back to in whatever small way possible. It could be simple as engaging in the PTA or participating in fundraising activities or creating a safe and comfortable environment for our children to grow. Thank you again.
God is love Tricia
Thanks for giving back Tricia!