The Ministry of Kalinago Upliftment with the support of the UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean, handed over a newly refurbished kitchen to the Salybia Primary School on Monday September 9, 2024, marking the opening of the new school term in a special way. The school kitchen was damaged in 2017 after the passage of Hurricane Maria.
Honourable Cozier Frederick-Minister of Environment, Rural Modernization, Kalinago Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment & Parliamentary Representative for the Salybia Constituency expressed immense gratitude to UNICEF for their support in the refurbishment of the school kitchen and by extension the Kalinago community. He expressed that this new kitchen will enable the students to have healthy and fresh meals on a daily basis. He also admonished the school administrators to ensure that proper maintenance is given to the kitchen and its contents.
Mr. Robert Guiste-Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, also expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Kalinago Upliftment and UNICEF for providing the school with the kitchen. He remarked that the kitchen will not only serve the Salybia Primary School students but also the Sineku Primary School students who are now sharing the same space due to renovations works being done at the Sineku Primary School.
Dr. Lisa McClean Trotman- Social & Behavioural Change Specialist at the UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean offered remarks on behalf of UNICEF. Dr. Trotman expressed UNICEF’s satisfaction on the completion of this project and spoke of UNICEF’s continued support in the Kalinago Territory. This support included, the implementation of a mentorship program for vulnerable families, birth registration campaign in order to get children who do not have birth certificates to get registered, provision of hygiene supplies to homes and schools and child protection trainings with parents, community leaders and other stakeholders.
According to the Ms. Jemma Azille- Project Coordinator- the refurbishment of the school kitchen included the installation of new kitchen cupboards and counters, installation of lighting and plumbing fixtures, the provision of kitchen equipment and appliances to include stoves, refrigerator, deep freezer, microwave, blender, kettles and food storage containers to include pots and pans. This renovation amounted to $44,000.00 EC.
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