Squire donates to Our Lady of Guadalupe Home

The establishment of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Home for girls was a consuming passion for the late educator Sister Patricia Ann Douglas.

When she died suddenly in a four-vehicle highway smash-up in Barbados on Friday, May 20, 2005, all of St Vincent and the Grenadines mourned.{{more}}

Now, what better way to preserve her blessed memory than to see her dream home functioning; meeting the needs of troubled young girls in St Vincent and the Grenadines for years to come?

One person that is doing her part to ensure that the home, located at Cane End, Mesopotamia, is on solid financial footing is 81-year-old Shirley Squire.

At a brief ceremony on Thursday, July 10, Squire presented her 30-page book of short stories, Vincy Sketches, the proceeds from which would go to the school.

“I wanted to give a sizeable contribution to the home, and this idea came to me,” she told SEARCHLIGHT.

Squire, a former daycare operator for close to 30 years, and once a very active political activist, told the small group of people gathered at the brief ceremony that the home is crucial to the development of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“The girls who come here, at the end of their tenure will go out to become responsible members of the society,” she said.

She also presented three desktop computers that were donated by a young couple in the United States.

Thanking Squire for the contribution, administrator of the home, Sister Gertrude Tang Kai told SEARCHLIGHT that the home remains dedicated to assist teenage girls that are at risk.

She stressed that the home is not a prison and said that the girls must want to be there and receive the help.

Sister Tang Kai said that the ultimate goal is always to reunite the residents with their families as soon as possible.

Presently, there is one resident at the home.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Home for Girls was blessed on September 8, 2007, and officially opened in May this year. The home can accommodate 16 residents.

Initially, 1,500 copies of ‘Vincy Sketches’ have been printed, and it is available at three locations: Everything Book Shoppe’, Dr Adam’s Bookstore and Christian Book Store.

The retail price of the book is $20.