SVGS Young Leaders visit Grenadine Islands

On Friday, March 25, 2011, members of the St. Vincent Grammar School Young Leaders went to Bequia for the start of their Grenadine community outreach program.{{more}} The group used the day to settle into what would be their home for the next four days, while those who stayed on mainland St. Vincent participated in a march held by the Dr JP Eustace Memorial Secondary Young Leaders.

On Saturday, the Young leaders in Bequia were divided into two groups and journeyed to Canouan and Union Island.

John Rickards, President of the Young Leaders, and Leopold Joyette, head of the Art Committee, headed the Canouan groups, while Utamu Rose, Second Vice President and Devonte Peters, Public Relations Officer, led the Union Island groups.

Unlike the previous community outreach programmes done on the mainland, those in the Grenadines were a bit different. On mainland St. Vincent, the group’s mission was educating the different communities on how to conserve water. However. in the Grenadines, members were learning how persons living in the Grenadines conserve water.

Once in Union Island and Canouan, the groups went to hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and other businesses to find out how these places obtain water and their ways of conserving it.

The Young Leaders learned that most hotels and larger restaurants have desalination plants which provide the majority of the drinking water. Both groups had the opportunity to see a desalination plant in operation.

After learning about how business places in the Grenadines collect their water, the Young Leaders then visited some residential areas to find out how the locals conserve water.

The Young Leaders learned that almost everybody in the Grenadines has water tanks to catch rain water. Most houses have water tanks under them that were built when the houses were constructed. Although they have these storage tanks under the houses, locals still purchase the large black tanks to store water because the more water stored, the better it is for these persons when the dry season comes around.

“Grey water” is reused in the Grenadines for different purposes. The term “grey water” is simply, soapy water. It is used for watering plants, flushing toilets, and much more. The recycling of “grey water” is one conservation technique that is more commonly practiced in the Grenadines than on mainland St. Vincent.

At the end of the community outreach, the groups used the rest of the afternoon looking around the islands before heading back to Bequia.

On Sunday, the Young Leaders did small community outreach programmes in different parts of the island. These outreach programmes were just like those in Canouan and Union Island.

Monday was the last day of the trip, but the Young Leaders were still busy visiting reservoirs and conducting small community sessions. When the group was finished with all of their Young Leaders’ related activities, they headed to Lower Bay, where one of the members cooked “ital” (vegetable-based cuisine) for lunch before heading back to mainland St. Vincent.