Students of the St. Aloysius R.C. Boys’ Infant School had two more reasons to smile this week. On Tuesday the boys got a day off from classes. When they returned the following day they entered a spruced up, freshly painted facility. The facelift was courtesy of the Prime Minister’s wife Mrs. Raquel DuBoulay-Chastanet, Harris Paints and the British High Commission.
Tuesday morning saw some teachers and members of the Scots Guards cricket team all playing their part to give the school a much-needed new look. Trades and sales manager of Harris Paints, Mr. Christopher Joseph, said Mrs. DuBoulay-Chastanet approached his company and they were only too happy to be a part of the initiative. He believes young students need a safe and clean environment to learn and feel good.
“We have been doing these types of initiatives from our inception,” said Joseph. “We are a company that likes to give back and we have every intention to continue.” He disclosed that the donation amount was over $10,000. Mrs. Wynnykyj King, principal of the St. Aloysius R.C. Boys’ Infant School, described the initiative as “a blessing from God” and expressed her gratitude to all who helped make it possible. Taking a break from overseeing the activities, she spoke with the STAR. “I received a call last week from Mrs. Chastanet. She told me of her desire to give the school a new coat of paint. This is one of the things we’ve long wanted to do, to really enhance the ambiance of the school; to make it appealing to the boys so they can look forward to attending classes.”
She added, “We had two eleven-hour weekends here, scraping, painting and priming the school for today’s activity. We’re very grateful for the assistance of twenty men from the Scots Guards.” The Scots Guards is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. George Hopkins, captain of its cricket team, explained that following a six-month stay in the Republic of Cyprus, the sports teams decided to travel on tours. With the football team in Canada and rugby team in Fiji, the cricket team travelled to Saint Lucia where four friendly cricket games have been scheduled. “We were in touch with the British High Commission and they asked us if we had any time to come and do a bit of charity work to help paint the school. Of course we were delighted!”
