One of the needed improvements at the Vivien Vanterpool School at Island Harbour is a customs-built gazebo for the children there. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Anguilla, the facility is now under construction.
Immediate Past Rotarian President, Jacquie Ruan, now acting for President Carolyn Richardson-Hodge who is on holiday for a month, told The Anguillian newspaper:
“We knew the gazebo had to be finished before the reopening of the school. However, the workers, who originally built the original gazebo, were so busy that they couldn’t get here before, plus the heat of the sun was absolutely brutal. We have now come here today (Monday, August 27) to put on the roof before the school starts. The previous gazebo was taken away by Hurricane Irma so the children have nowhere to sit at lunchtime and it has become a major event to complete the new gazebo. We now have to make five more benches, and there are others to be painted, so we will get members of the Rotary Interact Club to assist us. We will then have somewhere for the children to shelter from the very hot sun. It is like frying eggs on a hot pavement here. It is important to have this gazebo finished for them to have some comfort during lunch and break time. As you can see, the trees are still recovering from the hurricane – so where will these children hide from the sun?”
Jacquie, known as a very active community-minded worker and Rotarian, credited President-Elect Jeritzer Samuel for undertaking the provision of the new gazebo on behalf of the Rotary Club of Anguilla. She was grateful to a number of visitors from Maine, in the United States, for donating funds towards the building.
She added: “As you know, everything from labour and materials comes with a price – so we are struggling a little bit to get everything done; but, thankfully, we have started and hopefully we will be ready for the children when they return to school.”
