(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) “We [CARICOM Secretariat] operate as a family so all staff members from Executive Management to Office Assistants and Office Attendants made a contribution….” This is the explanation of the CARICOM Secretariat Staff Association President, Timothy Odle, on the US$1800 donated by the Association to two homes in Paramaribo, Suriname on 3 May 2014.
Members of the Staff Association, in the ‘spirit of community’, undertook an outreach mission to St. Onspanningsoord Gehandicapte Kindren (The Foundation for Handicapped Children) and the Noskasitas Orphanage.
While at the Foundation members of the Staff Association admired the various handicraft and other work of the children, and in a small ceremony, handed over $700 (US) which was accepted by Chairman Frank Cameron. Mr. Cameron expressed his gratitude to the Secretariat for this initiative and thanked members of the Association for both their time and financial donation.
In the visit to the orphanage, the team engaged the children in indoor games as well as a rousing game of football and made a donation of $1100.
In brief remarks, the Staff Association president referred to a similar outreach activity undertaken last year during CARIFESTA; explaining that they returned to demonstrate that this would be a sustained way for the Association to give back to CARICOM nationals.
The team from the Staff Association received support from the Suriname Ministry of Foreign Affairs who helped with finding their way around Paramaribo. The team journeyed to Paramaribo by land on Thursday and returned to Georgetown on Sunday afternoon.
