On Monday, April 1st, the Department of Education was the grateful recipient of 135 copies of the
book, “Nature’s Terrorist Hurricane Irma”, written by well-known author and local entrepreneur, Mr. John Christopher Richardson who is also the CEO of the Water Corporation of Anguilla.
Local water provider, Seven Seas Water of St. Maarten, was the proud sponsor of the donated books that are destined to benefit the reading skills of young scholars, as well as give them a comprehensive hour-by-hour account of the dreadful storm that lashed Anguilla and impacted many other Caribbean communities, on September 6th 2017.
President of Seven Seas Water, Mr. Frederick Hung, accompanied by the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Frank Richards, were on hand to present the books to Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Rhonda Connor, and Education Officer – Curriculum, Ms. Sandra Fahie.
Marketing Representative for the book, Chris’ son, Kohn Richardson, thanked Seven Seas for facilitating the contribution to the schools and spoke on the importance of knowing one’s history: “This book will be read by many,” he said. “It is not just good literary work, but I think it is ‘literary gold’.
“It is so important that we know in detail all that happened just before, during, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. As I often tell my dad, ‘in order for you to appreciate where you are now, you must reflect on where you were then’.
“I am very grateful for this moment, and for the approval of Seven Seas who has contributed to this great cause. We do appreciate your kind gesture in donating to Anguilla’s Department of Education, and to our development. We thank you very much.”
Speaking on behalf of Seven Seas, Mr. Hung explained: “Seven Seas Water has had a long history of supporting educational endeavours. We do support schools in St. Maarten and other islands as well. So, as a good cooperate citizen, and being part of the community, it was natural for us to give back and make this donation to the Department of Education on behalf of Mr. Richardson.
“As the water provider in Anguilla, we do want to immerse ourselves as a part of this community, and we believe that education is a good cause for us to donate towards. When we were approached by Mr. Richardson, we readily consented as we considered it a great thing to help the children to reflect upon their history which is significantly marked by Hurricane Irma. I am therefore happy that we can make this happen for the Department of Education, and for the children in the schools.”
In accepting the donation, Ms. Sandra Fahie remarked: “I borrow Kohn’s description of this book as ‘literary gold’, but I go further to say this book is a ‘literary gold nugget’. Very often, in education, we tend to struggle with having resources that are locally written. We are continuously building a pile of the resources that we do have. Chris’ book is now an addition to that pile.
“Hurricane Irma is a part of our history that will be engrained in our minds for a lifetime. This book makes for very easy reading, not just because of how it was written, but because we can actually identify with the passage of Hurricane Irma. It will be a great experience, therefore, as our students read and relate with the accounts in the book even as they experienced the actual storm.
“I want to say that we really appreciate this contribution from Chris and his partnership with Seven Seas. It will indeed add to our limited resources that we have, in terms of what is locally authored. So, on behalf of the Department of Education and our Education Officer, Mr. Rhonda Connor, I say a hearty and sincere thanks.”
Chris then responded by saying: “I want to particularly thank the teachers who reached out to me, expressing their desire to have this book as a part of their schools’ collection. They having reached out to me, I then thought I would reach out to Seven Seas. I know of their involvement with schools and the value that they place on education.
“So I consulted with my friend Frank, the Managing Director, who in turn liaised with Mr. Hung on the matter. After some discussion, they readily agreed, and at this juncture I would particularly like to give heartfelt thanks to Seven Seas Water.
“Like I have always said, a true story must be told. The account must be relayed just as it actually happened. And this is what Nature’s Terrorist Hurricane Irma does.”
Chris alluded to an old proverb coined by Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe: “Until lions learn how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” In essence, this means that because lions would never learn to write, the hunter will always dominate the jungle, and he will always have a story to tell. Chris encouraged writers to tell the story as it happens. That, in fact, is what he has done through his efforts in “Nature’s Terrorist, Hurricane Irma”.
Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
