Event [01.07.2005]
Summer of 2005 first consignment of recycled school equipment leaves for the shores of Grenada
Event [28.11.2005]
Second consignment of recyled equipment leaves the shores of bute destined for Grenada
Event [11.07.2006]
Grand Roy Government receives additional help from the Isle of Bute, ScotlandTreasure Trove
A SECOND container load of surplus school equipment from Argyll and Bute has completed its journey from Ambrisbeg Boatyard in Port Bannatyne across the Atlantic Ocean to the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean island of Grenada. North Bute Primary School teacher David Hanschell contacted us on Monday to say he'd received an email message of thanks from Janice Thomas, principal of Grand Roy Government School in the island's capital, St John's.
That email reads, in full, as follows.
"Greetings and best wishes from the 'Island of Spice'.
"I wish to express our profound thanks to you, your family, students from the Rothesay Primary School, Saint Andrew's Primary School, Greenock High School, Mobile Library, members of the community of Port Bannatyne and all others who in some way or the other have donated something to assist in the rebuilding process of the Grand Roy Government School.
"We are indeed grateful for all you have been doing for us, to ensure we are back to the normal standard that is expected of us in the education system.
"We received the container without the problems experienced in the first shipment, and we are indeed appreciative for the contents. The library books, however, I must especially mention, since we had no means of replenishing that stock.
"The students just had basic text for classroom work and there weren't any additional resources whatsoever. This has really helped to alleviate some of the problems faced.
"I will be sending photos shortly for you with the students at work with some of those items received. Please convey our gratitude to all our donors and inform them that they are in our prayers as we in Grenada try to rebuild better and develop the students in our care."
The plight of Grand Roy Government School last featured in these pages at the end of October, when we reported that the first container of surplus educational resources had finally cleared several bureaucratic hurdles and had been opened in St John's.
Elsewhere in Grenada, Bel Air children's home in the town of St George's has also benefited from some of the materials sent from Bute, and a thank you letter from the home's manager Sharon Davis arrived at North Bute Primary on Tuesday.
There's now a semi-permanent Caribbean Hurricane Relief Depot stationed in the yard at Ambrisbeg as David continues to gather material from all over Argyll and Bute and beyond to send across the Atlantic.