School reaches out to Dominicans

As Good Samaritans continued to heed the call made last week by Prime Minister Keith Rowley to welcome displaced hurricane victims, one school has offered to fund ten scholarships for Dominican students.

Director of the Ensafe (Institution for Health, Safety and Counselling Training) and New Vision Learning Centre on Coffee Street in San Fernando Hassim Ali made this announcement on the weekend during a ceremony to hand over food supplies, clothing and pharmaceutical items to be shipped to Dominica.

Ali said the school would offer scholarships to ten students valued $56,000. He said the scholarships would be offered to students in the field of phlebotomy, Nebosh and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) classes. Nebosh is a UK-based independent examination board delivering vocational qualifications in health, safety and environmental practice and management.

Ali said tuition would also cover uniforms, books and extra fees. He said two students would receive the phlebotomy scholarship, three would be selected for the Nebosh course and five would be offered private tuition in different subject areas in CSEC.

Ali said his offer is an open invitation to the Prime Minister and other agencies to meet with him to discuss and finalise details of the proposals.

“It is an open invitation to the Prime Minister to come meet with me as we are willing to open our doors to these students. We are here to help,” Ali said.

Last week Tuesday, Category 5 Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica leaving hundreds homeless. At least 17 people were killed while 20 others are still missing and feared dead. Many areas of the island have also been cut off due to damage to roads and other infrastructure.

“It is heart-breaking to know what these people are going through, but they are our neighbours and if you can help your neighbour you should act upon it. If your neighbour roof was blown off I am sure you would want to help, the Dominican nationals are our Caribbean neighbours,” Ali said.

He added that citizens need to open their hearts and remember that giving is divine. The Ensafe Institution is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago while the New Vision in Learning is recognized by the Education Ministry. Ali said students took money from their pockets to purchase cases of water, tinned food items, clothing and more that would be sent to Dominica.