St. Lucia Teachers' Union News

 St. Lucia Teachers' Union, P.O. Box 821 Castries, St Lucia, West Indies

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SLTU Aids Members Affected by Hurricane Tomas

Date: Monday Mar 07, 2011

 

On October 30th 2010 Hurricane Tomas hit St. Lucia causing tremendous destruction to the island. Fallen trees, swollen rivers, mud slides, flooding, downed power lines, structural damage and numerous deaths where all attributed to the passage of Hurricane Tomas.  The water catchment areas including the John Compton Dam were also affected hence, pipe borne water became a challenge for St. Lucia. Schools had to be closed as many schools on the island suffered some structural damage. From the preliminary assessments the Town of Soufriere and the Communities of Bexon and Dennery seemed to have been the areas that were more severely hit.
An island wide restoration campaign was launched and many groups and organizations spearheaded this initiative. The St. Lucia Teachers’ Union was one such organization. Since it was established that the Soufriere region and the Bexon and Dennery communities were most affected, the St. Lucia Teachers’ Union embarked on an initiative to provide some relief aid to its members from those areas.
The St. Lucia Teachers’ Union first reached out to its members in Soufriere. A contingent comprising of some Executive Officers, Branch Representatives from the North of the island and other members of the Teachers’ Union visited Soufriere via boat bringing to its members some desperately needed supplies such as water, can food items and toiletries. The delegation also took the opportunity to visit some of the worse affected areas in Soufriere and empathized with its members. A few days later the group also visited the Bexon and Dennery communities to also reach out to its members there.
The St. Lucia Teachers’ Union will also be receiving assistance for its members from its sister organizations around the Caribbean through the Caribbean Union of Teachers. Education International through its Reginal Coordinator Virginia Albert Poyotte has also pledged support for teachers affected by Hurricane Tomas. The St. Lucia Teachers’ Union hopes to provide every member who was affected in any way by Hurricane Tomas with some level of assistance.

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