Welcome to the Rotary Club of St. maarten-mid isle!

Are you an established professional who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.

Service Above Self

We meet Tuesdays at 7:30 PM
Pineapple Pete

Welfare Road
Simpson Bay, SXM
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)

District Site

Venue Map

Donation of Food Items to the COME Center

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle Aid the Community Outreach Mentorship Empowerment Center

For Valentine 2018 The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle were able to assist the Community Outreach Mentorship and Empowerment Center (COME) with food items for their soup kitchen with the project ‘Rotary has Heart to Make a Difference’. This project was first and foremost an effort to put food on an empty plate, to fill an empty stomach to bring a ray of hope to the hungry.

Recently Donna Morrison from the COME center reached out to Mid Isle asking for help with items for their soup kitchen. Mid Isle Rotarian Jeff with the help of three of his clients were able to help with the fresh items needed, while on behalf of The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle, President Denise, Secretary Aernout and Foundation Chair David shopped and delivered the non-perishable items needed from the required list.

After the passing of Hurricane Irma, the COME Center embarked on a project to provide breakfast and lunch for persons in the community who were in need of a hot meal on a daily basis. They currently feed 75 persons daily. The COME Center also provides an adult literacy program and computer classes for seniors.

Finals of 5th Scotiabank Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee

5^TH Scotiabank Rotary- Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018

On Sunday Anguilla shone at 5^th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018. The five finalists headed to The Belair Community Center to go head to head to determine the winner of the final round of the 5^th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 were from St. Maarten Nasya Gayle - MAC John A. Gumbs Campus, Mikage Dorcelus - Ruby Labega Primary School, Sameer Chatani – Seventh Day Adventist School, and from the Anguilla Schools Zakkai Lake and Ayana Carty. These three girls and two boys were well supported by a large crowd of family, friends, classmates and teachers.

The 5thh Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 was held in three consecutive rounds. The first round, the Preliminary Round had 29 participants from 14 schools, in this round the children had to spell the selected 20 words on paper. The top ten highest scorers from the Preliminary Round went onto the Semi- Finals. The ten Semi-Finalists from eight schools had to spell out their words into a microphone in front of the judges and audience. The top five highest scorers from the Semi-Finals went headed onto the final round. All twenty-nine participants of the 5^th Scotiabank Rotary- Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 represented their respective schools admirably.

It was a very close finish for all five participants in the final round and there was a tie for third place. For the two girls with the third place tie, their scores from the preliminary and Semi-Final rounds were calculated which broke the tie by just one point. In first place came Ayana Carty from Anguilla she won the first place trophy and an APPLE IMAC 21.5” desk top computer, in second place came Zakkai Lake also from Anguilla, who received the second place trophy and an APPLE MacBook Air 13.3 “, In third place came Mikage Dorcelus from Ruby Labega Primary School, she received the third place trophy and a IPAD 5th Generation 9.7”. In fourth place came Nasya Gayle from MAC John A. Gumbs Campus, who went home with a Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo cellphone. Fifth place went to Sameer Chatani from Seventh Day Adventist School who got to take home a JBL Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphone and a fidget spinner.

The Anguilla schools won a Printer for being the most supportive school. Also in attendance to support the five finalist were Ms. Selma Baker and other representatives of the main sponsor Scotiabank, The Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Minister Wycliffe Smith who spoke with the participants before the start of the final and The Assistant District Governor for District 7020 Marcellia Henry. The Anguilla schools were also awarded a DELL Optiplex 3020 computer and an AOC. 1905 SWD 19” class screen led-lit computer monitor as the prize for the winning school. Scotiabank presented all 29 participants with backpacks filled with goodies.

The 40” TV donated by Shop and Take was also raffled.

The five finalists were asked for their comments on the Spelling Bee, and these ranged from, “it was good;” “it was fun;” “it was a lot of words;” “they learnt many new words;” and “there was a lot of studying that had to be done”

Mid Isle would like to take this opportunity to thank Scotiabank the main sponsor of the 5^th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 along with gold sponsor Guardian Group Fatum and the many other sponsors without whose help we could not have had a successful Spelling Bee.

Semi Finals 5th Scotiabank Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018

Semi-Finals of 5^TH Scotiabank Rotary-Rotoract Spelling Bee 2018

Last Sunday The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle hosted the semi-finals of the 5^th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotoract Spelling Bee 2018.

The ten semi-finalists representing six schools were Yaashoda Sanchara from Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School, Nasya Gayle from MAC School Rev. John A. Gumbs Campus, Nihal Chugani from St. Dominic Primary School, Khushi Soneji from Mac School – Browlia F. Maillard Campus, Sameer Chatani from St. Maarten Seventh Day Adventist School, Mikage Dorecelus from Ruby Labega Primary School, and from the Anguilla School, Tamara Hall-Sampson, Jayda Adams, Zakkai Lake and Ayana Carty.

The judges were introduced, the moderator Rhodda Arrindell, head judge President Denise Antrobus, judges Rotarian Davy Moree and Rotarian Reena Manek, logistics tech Theodore Wilson and time keeper Rotarian Aernout Kraaijeveld. The St. Maarten Song was sung by Spelling Bee Chair Grace Linger.

In the Preliminary Round the participants had to write the selected words, but this week at the semi-finals, they were required to stand in front of the audience and the judges and speak into the microphone with their selected word. Each participant had to spell twenty words. Ten words per round with a ten-minute break in between; each word was worth five points. At the end of the semi-finals there was no tie but it was a tight finish.

Heading to the finals representing three schools from St. Maarten are Nasya Gayle - MAC John A. Gumbs Campus, Mikage Dorcelus - Ruby Labega Primary School, Sameer Chatani – Seventh Day Adventist School, and from the Anguilla Schools Zakkai Lake and Ayana Carty.

The finals will be held at the Belair community Center. The finals will start promptly at 1.00 pm p.m. Everyone is asked to be on time, and participants are asked to arrive by 12 noon. Family, friends, classmates and teachers are invited to come out to support and cheer on the five finalists, as there will be a prize for the school with the largest number of supporters. There is also a 40” TV being raffled, so if you have bought a ticket(s), the drawing will take place on the final day of the Spelling Bee on October 28^th, you have to be present to win!

5TH SCOTIABANK ROTARY-ROTARACT SPELLING BEE 2018 PRELIMINARY ROUND

5^TH Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 Kicked off on Sunday

Twenty-nine nervous and eager participants from sixteen schools were ready for the start of the preliminaries of the 5^th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee 2018 on Sunday at the Belair Community Center.

Before the start of the Spelling Bee the St. Maarten Song was sung by Chantoni Da Cunha and ???. followed by speeches from the Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports the Honorable Minister Wycliffe Smith who stressed that the children should READ, READ, READ to advance in their spelling. Assistant District Governor Marcellia Henry emphasized Rotary’s focus world wide on basic education and literature. The representative from Scotiabank Ms. Imelda Joseph ????President of The Rotary Club of St. Maarten Denise Antrobus gave the audience some feed back of what the participants thought of the four tutorials held this year at the University of St. Martin. She also thanked the sponsors for their support of the Spelling Bee which without them this would not have been possible. Special thanks went out to the main sponsor Scotiabank and chairlady service projects director Grace Linger for organizing this event. President of The Rotaract Club of St. Maarten Sunrise Lerissa Rey made sure all the participants were ready. All the speakers let the participants know that they were all already winners by being there and ready to compete.

Finally, an explanation of the rules was given to the participants, who were anxiously waiting to start. For the preliminary round the participants had to write twenty words. The word was read out, given in a sentence and read out again, they had thirty seconds to write the word on the sheet provided.

The Top ten finishers representing six schools were Yaashoda Sanchara from Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School, Nasya gayle from MAC School – Rev. john A. Gumbs Campus, Nihal Chugani from St. Dominic Primary School, Khushi Soneji from Mac School – Browlia f. Maillard Campus, Sameer Chatani from St. Maarten Seventh Day Adventist School, Mikage Dorecelus from Ruby Labega Primary School, and from the Anguilla Schools. Tamara Hall-Sampson, Jayda Adams, Zakkai Lake and Ayana Carty. These top ten finishers are now headed for the semi-final round being held on Sunday October 21^st. The five-top finishers from the semi-final round will head to the final round on Sunday October 28^th.

Don’t study to earn, study to learn, what you learn today is what you will become tomorrow.

14 SCHOOLS TO PARTICIPATE IN 5TH SCOTIABANK ROTARY-ROTARACT SPELLING BEE 2018

Posted by Denise Antrobus on Oct 12, 2018

The 2018 Scotiabank Rotary-Rotary Spelling Bee kicks off this Sunday at the Belair Community center, organized and hosted by The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle, the latter said in a statement on Thursday.

“Fourteen schools have entered, twelve from St. Maarten and two from Anguilla. The St. Maarten Schools are MAC Browlia F. Maillard Campus, MAC Rev. john A. Gumbs Campus, Marie Genevieve De Weever School, Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. School, Oranje School, Ruby Labega Primary School, Leonald Connor School, Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School, Seventh Day Adventist School, Sister Regina Primary School, St. Dominic Primary School, St. Joseph Primary School, Methodist Agogic Center School (JAG).

“The two schools from Anguilla are Alywn Allison Richardson Primary and The Valley Primary School. There are 34 participants in total.

“The Spelling Bee will be held at The Belair Community Center over three weeks. The first round, the preliminary round will be held on Sunday 14th October. The fifteen highest scorers from the preliminary round will advance to the second round, the semifinals, which is being held on Sunday 21st October.

“The five highest scorers from the semifinals will advance to the final round. The final round is being held on Sunday 28th October.

“The participants are expected at The Belair Community Center at 12 noon for a prompt start at 1pm.

“Due to the success of the first tutorials held in 2016 it was decided to hold four sessions this year at The University of St. Martin. We hope we have inspired the participants to be the best that they can be.

“We would like to encourage and welcome everyone to come and give support to the participants at the 5th Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee on all three Sundays. The school with the best supporting team will win a prize.

“Today's Students are our future generation. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”

ANDY AND ELMER LITERACY PROJECT

The Andy and Elmer literacy project has been a success in St. Maarten, Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle announced on Monday in a statement.

“The focus of Rotary for the month of September was basic education and literacy. The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle have for the first time on St. Maarten introduced the Andy and Elmer Literacy Project. This was a pilot project that has been well received with young students.

“Andy and Elmer' s Apple Dumpling Adventure is a delightful story of a young entrepreneur named Andy, who with the help of a mysterious voice providing guidance and support, learns the value of truthfulness, fairness, goodwill and partnership that benefit everyone involved.

“This wonderful book was designed to teach the four-way test to children in the 1st to 4th grades. It is a direct implication on Rotary's focus on future generations, being a friend of education and an example to the youth.

“The Andy and Elmer activity books were introduced to Players Development and children at the Philipsburg Library, each child was given an activity book and a 4 Way Test bookmark.

“We read the book individually with each child, they enjoyed the story and enjoyed the activities in the book which included a crossword, word search, dot to dot and more, all pictures in the book the children were able to color.

“The children at Players Development were thrilled to learn the 4 Way Test as they have just been approved to set up a Rotary Early Act Club.”

MAKING THE WORLD SWEETER FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

MAKING THE WORLD SWEETER FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Honey Sheridan, M.S., BCBA of Sweet ABA is making the world sweeter for children with disabilities.

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle were pleased to have as their guest speaker Honey Sheridan. Honey gave a very informative talk on learning difficulties for children with disabilities and how even when it is on the statutes that all children between certain ages are legally bound to be in school and receiving an education, only one percent of these children actually do so. Children with disabilities are not allowed to attend school due to either behavior problems and or not being toilet trained. There needs to be more awareness so these children can be accepted by society and by the mainstream schools.

Her experience with children with disabilities ranges from preschool age (2+) to transitional age adults (18-22.) For over 10+ years she taught special education, specially providing ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy in the United States. She has taught at every level of education from elementary, to Junior High, to high school including adult transition students. In order for Honey to become a BCBA she needed her master’s degree and complete the BCBA coursework, be supervised by another BCBA, and then sat for a board exam. Just like any medical doctor or a licenses psychologist the BCBA must maintain their license with further education, this ensures that the BCBA is using the most current research. She has provided special education teachers, general education teachers, para-professionals and school administration training on Applied Behavior Analysis. Honey Sheridan has collaborated with a range of professionals from social workers, psychologists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapist, physical therapists, and parents to provide a successful curriculum behavior therapy for those that need it.

Honey Sheridan has created an ABA therapy company called Sweet ABA here on St. Maarten. Children with a range of learning disabilities to behavior problems may receive ABA Therapy to help them with the one to one support they may need. Parents may make an appointment by contacting SweetABA.com or SweetABAsxm@gmail.com

DONATION OF AGENDA TO CHARLOTTE BROOKSON ACADEMY

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – There were smiling faces as agendas were handed out to some of the students of the Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performance Arts.

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle have donated 150 agendas to the students of the Charlotte Brookson Academy in Philipsburg. This donation was made possible by Premier Promotions of Fort Lauderdale. These agendas were overstock and were due to be dumped when they were offered to Mid Isle, who gratefully accepted them. The principal Mrs. Claudette Forsythe – Labega and students of CBA were very appreciative and grateful for the donation.

INSPIRING SPELLING BEE PARTICIPANTS WITH TUTORIAL SESSIONS

Inspiring Spelling Bee Participants with Tutorial Session

Four tutorials sessions have been organized to inspire the Spelling Bee Participants competing in the 2018 Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee.

Due to the success of the previous Tutorial sessions hosted by The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle for the Scotiabank Rotary/Rotoract Spelling Bee in 2016 it was decided to hold four sessions this year. Two tutorial sessions were already held at the University of St. Maarten on Pond Island on Saturday September 8^th and 15^th. The next two sessions will be held on Saturday 22^nd and 29^th September at 11am and ending at 1pm. Volunteers are helping the kids in pairs and sometimes individually to practice. This method really works. Of course, the participants will need to continue to practice in school and at home. Refreshments will be served as well as pizza sponsored by Domino’s. All Spelling Bee Participants are invited and encouraged to attend the remaining two tutorial sessions.

To date 11 schools have registered for the Spelling Bee from St. Maarten, there will also be participants from Anguilla. The preliminary round kicks off on Sunday October 14^th at the Belair Community Center. The top 15 highest scorers from the preliminary round will head to the semi-final round on Sunday October 21. The top five highest scorers from the semi-final round will head to the final round on Sunday October 28^th. Parents, family and friends are all invited to come out and support the participants.

SPORTS UNIFORM DONATION

The St. Maarten Rotary Club – Mid Isle, recently donated ladies basketball uniforms to the National Sport Institute for school and Organizational usage.

Rotary club member Femke Jansen recently contacted the Department of Sport within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport to assist with a donation of basketball uniforms and the donation was made possible by Rebekka van Heijningen from the Netherlands. The uniforms used to belong to a premier league basketball team in Utrecht, the Netherlands named Amazone. Although the uniforms, which came in various sizes, bears the name of the club Amazone and their sponsor Dance 4 Life, Ms Jansen of the Rotary club thought it still useful for the schools or district teams. The Department of Sport and the National Sport institute have encouraged and facilitated the different sport organizations in the execution of school sport and the uniforms donated will assist specifically with basketball and the inclusion of women in sport.

The Department of Sport on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sport Institute greatly appreciates the assistance of Mrs Jansen and Ms Linger of the Rotary club who took the initiative to contact the Department, the Rotary Club – Mid Isle for their assistance and Ms van Heijningen who made the donation possible.

UK AUTHOR JACKY ROM VISIT'S MID ISLE

Posted by Denise Antrobus on Aug 29, 2018

UK Author Jacky Rom Speaks to Mid Isle

UK author Jacky Rom paid a visit to The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle as their guest speaker.

Jacky grew up in Romford Essex and qualified as a hairdresser and makeup artist at the ‘London College of Fashion’. It had always a dream of hers to become a film director. Jacky wrote her first play when she was just 17 years old and has written and directed many plays over the years. She has spent many years in TV and film studios with her own up and coming actors before she decided to write her first book.

When Jacky turned 50 years of age in 2008 she decided to take a months’ vacation in St. Maarten. She began to wonder what she would do to occupy her time while vacationing, that’s when she decided to write a book. This turned into a series of 5 books all about the adventures of an 11-year-old detective. She enjoyed every minute of the process. Her adult crime thriller book ‘Make up to Murder’ was release in 2015, and she already has interest in Hollywood for the film rights. Jacky’s latest venture has taken place in Las Vegas where she has been filming a documentary called ‘Method of Murder’ she is currently waiting for the airing dates around the world.

After the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria she was feeling frustrated and helpless back in the UK and she wanted to help. She collected 400 children’s books and with the help of her local Rotary Club and Round table, the books were shipped to SXM.

When Jacky could finally get to SXM she met up with her friend Rotarian Jeff Jhangiani who had been helping the less fortunate in the community after the passing of the hurricanes. With the help from people worldwide, they have received so much to be able to help those in the community. Jacky says its been an emotional journey she has laughed, cried and wept.

SPELLING BEE PLANS UNDERWAY 2018

Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee Plans Underway

Another summer vacation has ended and while the students are settling back into the classroom, some students aged 9-10 years will be preparing for the annual Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee Competition, which the main organizer ‘The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle’ has been planning for the last ten months. The main sponsor for the Spelling Bee is Scotiabank. The event will start with the preliminaries on Sunday October 13^th. Unfortunately, the Spelling Bee was cancelled into 2017 due to the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The objective of this Spelling Bee is to improve literacy and enhance the students’ educational experience. With Scotiabanks’ commitment, Mid Isle are confident that this year’s Spelling Bee will be successful once again.

All three events are being held at ‘The Belair Community Center’. The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle and the Sunrise Rotaract Club encourage all parents, family, friends and the public to come out and support the students. There will be a prize for the school with the best group of supporters. Food and drinks will be available for the students during the breaks.

The top 10 finalists of the preliminary segment will head into the semi-finals on Sunday October 20th. The top five finalist of the semi-finals will head to the final round on Sunday October 27^th.

As in previous years, participating schools will benefit from the proceeds of ‘The Spelling Bee’ by being able to submit a ‘Wish List’ for any items they may need at their prospective school. In previous years wish list items have included projectors, screens, computers etc. All participants will receive goody bags while winning pupils and schools receive additional prizes.

For the first time tutorial sessions were held for the participating students in 2016 and it was found to be well received. It has been decided to continue the tutorials for the second year so that participating students will again have the benefit of four tutorial sessions being held at the University of St. Maarten on Saturday September 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd and 29^th. The students will be assisted by Rotarians and Rotoractors to learn the words which will give them a better chance to advance to the semi-finals and

finals round of the spelling Bee.

Last years’ finalists were asked for their comments on the Spelling Bee and their comments ranged from ‘It was good’, ‘It was fun’, ‘It was a lot of words’, ‘They learnt many words’ and ‘There was a lot of studying that had to be done’

Mid Isle would like to take this opportunity to thank the main sponsor of ‘The Scotiabank Rotary-Rotaract Spelling Bee Competition, Scotiabank.

BACK TO SCHOOL BACK PACKS

Back to School Back Packs

Now that the summer vacation is over, we need to inspire and encourage our children to learn, but to do that we need to give them the right tools. Hence when Ki-Mani Olivacce reached out to The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle to help students in need within the community, to equip them for the school year they were ready to help.

It takes compassion to think of others who are in need. While we are all taught to share and help our neighbors, 17-year-old Ki-Mani Olivacce a 12^th grade student of The Learning Unlimited Preparatory School, has been inspired to take it to the next level. For the third year in a row Ki-Mani and his foundation ‘Voices of our Children’ have reached out to the community to come together to donate to a worthy cause of a ‘Back to School Drive’ for students in need. Ki-Mani is to be commended for taking the initiative three years ago to start this project.

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle heeded the call for the third year under the direction of Service Projects Director Grace Linger. This year we worked with the foundation ‘All about a Smile’, and other donors -Locally and abroad- to pack forty-eight school back packs for the less fortunate students in our community. This amounted to twenty-four back packs for elementary students, and twenty-four back packs for high school students with all the necessary items for the start of the new school year 2018-2019. The back packs consisted of markers, crayons, pens, pencils’, pencil cases, scientific calculators, rulers, erasers, folders, 3 ring binders, loose leaf paper, geometry sets etc. The backpacks were donated by Rotarian Jeff Jhangani and his foundation ‘All About a Smile’. A heart felt thank you goes out to the following persons, Jennifer Baker and Judy Sarvas, for donating school supplies, Don Patterson, for donating the calculators, and Robert Welch for financing the other items that were needed.

‘The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you’ – B. B. King

A BUSY SATURDAY

Making a Difference in the Community

Making a difference in the community and bringing smiles to faces was the order of the day for the Rotarians of The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle last Saturday.

Their first stop was a visit to Safe Haven. The ‘Krazy Ladies of Kentucky (Trouble 1, Trouble 2 and Trouble 3 as they call their selves) Sheryl Block, Pat Helton Pike, and Marsha Willet donated much needed food supplies to the shelter. This donation was made possible through Rotarian Jeff. While Michelle Thorngren Bielenberg donated toiletries and toys for the children. Mid Isle also donated women, children and baby clothing.

Their second visit was to the children at Player Development at the Little League Field. Mid Isle donated postage stamps from as far away as Zimbabwe, Rhodesia, New Zealand and Japan and cut out trains for the children to assemble. These items were collected at the recently held Rotary International Convention in Toronto. Mid Isle Rotarians spent time with the children helping them mount the stamps into albums, assembling the trains and helping them with their reading and writing. Joining us was Radha ??? (Vaswani

At their final presentation of the day Mid Isle donated a ‘Welcome Baby Bag’ to an expectant mother whose home is still under repair after Hurricane Irma. Lachman chintaman through Rotarian Jeff also donated a playpen and other baby items.

SPORTS EQUIPMENT DONATION

ROTARY MID ISLE GIVES TO NATIONAL SPORTS INSTITUTE

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle recently donated materials to the National sport institute for community and organisation usage.

Following the hurricanes experienced in 2017, sports activities on the island experienced many challenges with damage to the sports facilities and loss of sport material. in light of the challenges, Club President Denise Antrobus contacted the Education, Culture, youth and Sport Ministry's Department of Sport to assist.

It was determined with the Department and the National Sport Institute that the foundation responsible for the execution of sports and the management of the various government owned sport facilities needed assistance in the form of sport materials that could be utilised by the schools and organisation that utilise the facilities .

The fund for the equipment were garnered through the Rotary District 7020 emergency recovery fund. District 7020 compromises Anguilla, the British virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, jamaica, St. barths's St. maarten/St. martin, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the US Virgin Islands.

The materials received included basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, nets and gloves.

The department of Sport on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture, youth and Sport and the National Sport Institute greatly appreciate the assisstance of Rotarian Antrobus, who took the initiative to contact the Department.

MID ISLE CHANGE OF BOARD 2018

ROTARY CLUB OF SINT MAARTEN – MID ISLE CHANGE OF BOARD

It was a wonderful evening of fellowship at the well-attended Change of Board celebration event that the The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten - Mid Isle held recently at the Rendezvous Lounge, Porto Cupecoy.

This event was a ‘World’s Greatest Meal to End Polio’ a collection was taken and all the proceeds will go towards the effort to ‘Eradicate Polio’. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will triple any donations collected for End Polio. This crippling disease has been eradicated 99.9% in over 30 years. There have been only 11 reported cases this year. There are now only two countries presently remaining with polio which are Pakistan and Afghanistan. Funds collected are not only used for purchasing the vaccine, but also used for transportation of the Polio Volunteers, Vests for the volunteers, vaccine carriers, purchasing of the purple finger markers, etc.

A raffle was also held whereby fifty per cent of the proceeds will go toward the polio effort and fifty per cent will go towards the club’s community projects.

Outgoing President Anjali Manek thanked the Club, Partners in Service and Sponsors for their continued support. Anjali presented two special awards which were given to Rotarian Denise Antrobus for her dedication and hard work this past Rotary year and for doing a fantastic job in multiple board positions. Rotarian Jeff Jhangani received a special award as a new Rotarian who is very active in the St. Maarten community and very hands on in the projects of the Club. The anticipated Rotarian of the Year Award was given to Rotarian Grace Linger for her exceptional service to the Club and community of St Maarten. She also presented the Outgoing Board with a token of appreciation.

After being installed as the President of Mid Isle for the Rotary Year 2018-2019 Denise Antrobus asked those present to join her in congratulating Past President Anjali under whose leadership along with her board and the Rotarians of Mid Isle under perseverance and adversity had a successful year and showed that Mid are ‘People of Action’ and have a made a difference within the community. This was clearly shown by the number of awards that the club received at the district conference in Haiti this year.

Her main focus’ for the year will be mental health – everyone was touched in some way or other with the passing of Hurricane Irma, and she would like to see the stigma removed for persons seeking the help of Mental Health Professionals to help them cope with the problems they have had to deal with, this includes children as well. She will also focus on kids at risk, which includes the children at Safe Haven and Eradication of Polio. The children are our future.

President Denise introduced her board for the year 2018-2019 Vice President and Social Media Anjali Manek, Secretary and Disaster Director Aernout Kraaijeveld, Foundation Director and Sargeant at Arms, David Antrobus, Treasurer Tony Da Cunha, Membership Director Louis Wever, Fundraising Director Jeff Jhangani, New Generations Director Jon Hart and Service Project Director Grace Linger.’’

In closing, President Denise shared the Rotary International vision statement: “Together, we see a World where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves”

ROTARACT CELELBRATES 50 YEARS

Posted by DENSIE ANTROBNUS on Mar 30, 2018

MID ISLAND CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF ROTARACT

Last week being ‘World Rotaract Week’, March 11^th-18^th, 2018, The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle was joined by The Rotaract Sunrise Club President Micaela Hart and five Rotaractors.

We were shown an interesting power point on 50 Years of Rotaract by the Rotaractors. The Rotaract Sunrise Club was charted on April 5^th, 2005.

Rotaract originally began as a Rotary International youth program in 1968 at Charlotte North Rotary Club in Charlotte and has grown into a major Rotary-sponsored organization of over 9,522 clubs spread around the world and 291,006 members. It is a service, leadership, professional and community service organization for young men and women between the ages 18–30. Rotaract focuses on the development of young adults as leaders in their communities and workplaces. Clubs around the world also take part in international service projects, in a global effort to bring peace and international understanding to the world. "Rotaract" stands for "Rotary in Action", although the name originally comes from a combination of "Rotary" and "Interact" (International + Action), the high school level program created by Rotary International in 1962.

Most Rotaract activities take place at the club level. Rotaract clubs hold formal meetings, usually every two weeks, which feature speakers, special outings, social activities, discussions or visits to other clubs. Club members get together on designated days for service project work, social events, or professional/leadership development workshops. The purpose of Rotaract is to provide an opportunity for young men and women to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical and social needs of their communities, and to promote better relations between all people worldwide through a framework of friendship and service. To be eligible for membership, prospective members must be 18–30 years of age, show that they are committed to Rotaract, and show that they are of good standing in the community.

ALEX N ANI CHECK PRESENTATION

Posted by DENISE ANTROBUS on Mar 22, 2018

Mid Isle Teamed up with Alex n’Ani to ‘End Polio Now’

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten Mid Isle has been continuing the fight to ‘End Polio Now’ with three fundraisers for the Rotary Year 2017-2018.

For their second fundraiser of the Rotary Year Mid Isle teamed up with Alex n’Ani on August 26^th at their Front Street branch for ‘A Charmed by Charity’ event. At this event Alex n’Ani donated 15 pct of that days’ taking to Mid Isle toward the ‘End Polio Now’ funds. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match the funds raised with a 2:1 match. President Anjali Manek was on hand to collect the check from Ritika Chugani. This was our second fundraising event for Polio with Alex n’Ani.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. The poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio is incurable, but completely vaccine-preventable.

In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Rotary has contributed more than $1.7 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $7.2 billion to the effort.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed in 1988, is a public-private partnership that includes Rotary, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and governments of the world. Rotary’s focus is advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and awareness-building.

Today, there are only two countries that have never stopped transmission of the wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. The polio cases remaining are the most difficult to prevent, due to factors including geographical isolation, poor public infrastructure, armed conflict and cultural barriers. Until polio is eradicated, all countries remain at risk of outbreaks.

Rotary will raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These funds help to provide much-needed operational support, medical personnel, laboratory equipment, and educational materials for health workers and parents. Governments, corporations and private individuals all play a crucial role in funding.

More than one million Rotary members have donated their time and personal resources to end polio. Every year, hundreds of Rotary members work side-by-side with health workers to vaccinate children in polio-affected countries. Rotary Members work with UNICEF and other partners to prepare and distribute mass communication tools to reach people in areas isolated by conflict, geography, or poverty. Rotary members also recruit fellow volunteers, assist with transporting the vaccine, and provide other logistical support.

Helen Hart -PHF

Helen Hart receives Paul Harris Fellow recognition

At the recent reception for the visiting Governor (DG) of district 7020 Dr. Robert Leger, well-known singer Helen Hart was recognized with a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF), for her many contributions to the youth of St. Maarten in the field of music. Helen has also brought many local talents to light in her musical stage productions of “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Les Miserables” and “Grease”. Both Helen and her husband Neville “Fats” James are involved in teaching youngsters music, voice and entertainment lessons, and have started the signing group “Arias”, who have displayed their angelic voices at various functions on the island. A few years ago, one of her students Tamillia Chance became the second runner-up in the “Voice Kids 2016” competition in France. Besides her involvement with the youth, St. Maarten-Mid Isle Rotarian Jon Hart sponsored the Paul Harris Fellow for Helen for her humanitarian efforts in helping her brother receive much needed medical care in his time of sickness. Helen who was obviously very surprised with the presentation, mentioned that the children she is involved with has brought back the smile to her face, after going through the loss of several loved ones in recent years. DG Robert Leger presented Helen Hart with the PHF pin, medallion and certificate, and said that he was honored to do so, on behalf of the Rotary Foundation.

RYLA

Posted by DENISE ANTROBUS on Mar 22, 2018

ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS

The mini RYLA organized this last weekend organized by Rotarian Jon Hart (chair Person) Rotaractor Micaela Hart, Rotarian Henna Budhrani and Assistant Governor Marcellia Henry exceeded all expectations. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where you develop your skills as a leader while having fun and making connections.

The RYLA held at the University of St. Martin was attended by 43 Interactors from Anguilla, Sundial, Milton Peters College, Learning Unlimited and St. Dominic High School. RYLA events are organized locally by Rotary clubs and districts for participants ages 14-30. Depending on community needs, RYLA may take the form of a one-day seminar, a three-day retreat, or a weeklong camp. Typically, events last 3-10 days and include presentations, activities, and workshops covering a variety of topics.

A community can host a RYLA event for secondary school students to hone their leadership potential, for university students to develop creative problem-solving strategies, or for young professionals to learn ethical business practices.

The welcome remarks and introduction were given by Assistant Governor Marcellia Henry. The first session of the day focused on Rotary’s purpose and service to the community. Adante Pitter from Milton Peters College and Kyrleson Aad Klaren, from Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School in Anguilla explained what an interact club is and how interactors contribute to the community and their schools.

The whole group and breakout sessions for the event which started at 9am and ended at 3pm were as follows: Fundamentals of leadership and ethics of positive leadership presented by Mrs. Julie Harpalani. The importance of communication skills in effective leadership presented by Ms. Kimberley Duzong, a second session presented by Mr. Gabriel Flanders. Building self-confidence and self-esteem presented by Ms. Paula Gordon, and Problem Solving and conflict management presented by Ms. Sanjana Manek. An award presentation for all participants was held at the ending of the day’s event.

During the closing remarks, Chairperson and Rotarian Jon Hart, thanked the sponsors for this RYLA, which were: Coffee Lounge, Shieka’s, White Swan, Lazy Lizard, Jewelery Avenue, Pavillion, Ocean, Jewelers, Infinity Jewelers, Office world, Sint Maarten, NATCOM UNESCO, University of St. Martin and the Rotary Clubs of St. Maarten and Anguilla.

It is the intention to organize another RYLA during the next Rotary year 2018-2019 to shape leadership skills in students who already possess and demonstrate outstanding leadership characteristics in their high school and community.

INDUCTION OF JEFF JHANGIANI INTO MID ISLE

Mid Isle inducted Jeff Jhangiani into their fold on February 20th, 2018

Welcome to the family of Mid Isle Rotarian Jeff.

ROTARY HAS HEART

Posted by DA on Feb 20, 2018

The project known as 'Rotary Has Heart' used Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2018, as the signature date for the project.

Rotary Clubs were asked to engage in a hunger project to 'Make a difference' on or around Valentines Day in their communities. 'This was first and foremost an effort to put food on an empty plate, to fill an empty stomach, to bring a ray of hope to the hungry. It was a chance for Rotarians to show thousands of communities throughout our districts what Rotarians can do when we focus on 'Making a Difference'.

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle donated their fines collected in a three week period to the project. The club decided to thelp the'Community Outreach Mentorship and Empowerment International Center (COME).

After the passing of Hurricane Irma the COME Center embarked on a project to provide breakfast and lunch for persons in our community who are in need of a hot meal on a daily basis. They curently feed approximately 75 persons daily. COME provided us with their required shopping list which we purchase and delivered to the center.

67,500 Rotarians in as many as approximately 1,600 clubs collectively made a difference for thousands of families in hundreds of communities with the project 'Rotary Has Heart'.

TREE PLANTING PROJECT

ROTARY GOES GREEN PLANTING TREES

The little league ballpark became a lot greener on Saturday, August 19th. A total of 26 coconut trees and 24 palm trees were planted by the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle. The tree planting was the result of the ongoing 'Rotary Plant a Tree Project'. The coconut trees and top soil were donated by Mr. Jerry Speetjens, and the palm trees by Rotarian Bajan Wayne. Windward Island Roads assisted by providing a backhoe to dig the holes for the trees.

This project was an initiative of Rotary International President 2017-2018 Mr. Ian H.S. Riseley. He challenged all 1.2 million Rotarians to each plant a tree between the start of the Rotary year July 1, 2017, and Earth Day, which is celebrated on aApril 22nd, 2018. With this project he hopes to accomplish that the Rotary Clubs will become more active in regard to the environment 'Environmental issue rarely register on the Rotary Agenda', Ian Risely said. 'The time is long past when enviornmental sustainability can be dismissed as not Rotary's concern. It is, and must be, everyone's concern'.

Planting trees will help to improve environment sustainability, because trees remove carbon dioxide and other greenhous gases from the air that we breath. This will hopefully slow down the effects of global warming. 'It is my hope that the result of that effort will be far greater than the environmental benefit that those 1.2 million new trees will bring' stated Riseley. " I believe the greater result will be a Rotary that recognizes its responsibility not only to the people on our planet, but to the planet itself'.

The Rotary Mid Isle teamed up with Little League's Player Development, because 'We wanted to plant trees where they would be appreciated and taken care of, and where we could keep an eye on them ourselves, Stated the club's secretary Denise. Rotary Mid-Isle has a long-time involvement with Palyer Development. They plan to visit Player Development at least once a month, and as such this would be an ideal location.

As total of 11 rotarians, two partners in service, 1 prospective Rotarian, Coach Tom Burnett and some of his players from Players Development were involved in the planting of the trees. the children helped by filling holes, watering all the trees and by placing stone borders around the smallest trees to protect them from being damaged. Of course, the children are looking forward to the coconuts, because these will provide them with coconut milk and a yummy treat to eat. They will have to have , however, a lot of patience and in time they will earn the cocnut produce.

ACE CHILDRENS CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Children's Gifts for the ACE Foundation

Mid Isle pulled off a feat this week. After hearing that christmas gifts were needed for children at the ACE Foundation 'All Children's Education Foundation school', Mid Isle went into action. With less than 24 hours' notice Mid Isle Rotarians purchased and wrapped the required number of gifts for children aged 3-8 years old. Along with this presentation were the items and goods that the Intereact Club of St. Dominic's high School had collected. Making the presentation were President Anjali, Secretary Denise and VP Vanesca of the Interact Club of SDHS.

MID ISLE ANNOUNCE PE AND SEC

MID ISLE ANNOUNCE PE AND SE FOR ROTARY YEAR 2018-2019

The Rotary club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle has announced their president elect and secretary elect for the Rotary Year 2018-2019. rotarian Denise Antrobus has been named as President Elect and Aernout Kraaijeveld as Secretary elect.

Rotarian Denise said she was honored to be selected to lead this wonderful Rotary Family of Mid Isle during the year 2018-2019. She thanks the committee of past presidents for choosing her to represent Mid Isle during the next Rotary Year. She stated that it is an honor to be elected as their next president and is humbled that they have placed their faith and trust in her. Denise currently serves on the board of Mid Isle as secretary and Public Image Director and is also the Public Image Area Coordinator.

Aernout Kraaijeveld arrived from the Netherland, making St. Maarten his home in 2010. He works as an attorney and is the current President of the St. Maarten Bar Association. He has also served for three years as a board member of the Mental Health Foundation and two years as a board member of the Foundation for Professional Education of attorneys. In Addition, Mr, Kraaijeveld is one of the few certified mediators on the island, and used this knowledge and training to create a more peaceful and harminous St. Maarten. Rotarian Aernout presently serves on the board of Mid Isle as the Disaster chair.