Digicel Foundation Donates Water Tank To Catherine Hall Primary School

The Digicel Foundation has donated a 1,000-gallon water tank to the Catherine Hall Primary School in St. James.

The storage tank will strengthen the school’s resilience, ensuring that students can safely return to classes.

It replaces the previous tank, which was blown away during Hurricane Melissa, said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Digicel Foundation, Charmaine Daniels.

She was speaking to JIS News during the handover of relief supplies at the school’s Special Education Unit on Thursday (November 20).

The packages, containing non-perishable food, water, personal care items and household cleaning supplies, were presented to the parents of the special needs students and nearby residents.

The outreach was conducted in partnership with Digicel, which provided mobile charging services and SIM cards to residents, and the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company.

Ms. Daniels said special needs communities have been hit hard by the hurricane and often face greater challenges in recovering from natural disasters.

“This is the first of several special needs schools that we will be doing in the impacted parishes along the southwest of the island. This is the first step,” Ms. Daniels said.

“We have worked with this school for several years, renovating it, always coming back and visiting. We also do back-to-school here for these kids,” she added.

Principal of Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School, Kay-Esther Malcolm, expressed gratitude for the support.

She pointed to the physical and emotional toll the hurricane has taken on the communities, noting that while many individuals and families are grieving their loss, the presence of the organisations provides hope.

“We want to thank you this afternoon for coming together to help our school, especially our special education department. We are so grateful,” Ms. Malcolm said.

With several sections of the school damaged, the institution has begun clean-up activities with the help of teachers, parents, staff and volunteers, who are working to restore the environment to ensure the students’ safe return.

One parent, Melomie Brown, whose daughter attends the special education unit, said the assistance was a lifeline.

“Trust me, it is important to give back because we got flooded out. Also, most of us don’t have any food or clothes,” she said.

She encouraged families to remain strong, prayerful and courageous as they navigate the recovery process.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/digicel-foundation-donates-water-tank-to-catherine-hall-primary-school/