Schoolchildren with Hotel Mercure General Manager Baki Arbia and the education officials. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Some sixty children from two classes of Aline Hanson School in Sandy Ground participated in a symbolic tree planting on Sandy Ground Beach on Friday afternoon.
The initiative to beautify the beach and instil environmental awareness in the children was made by Hotel Mercure and SXM Music Festival Association in collaboration with Education Nationale. SXM Music Festival paid for the 200 coconut palms, 150 of which will be planted in public areas, such as Sandy Ground Beach and Happy Bay Beach.
Children split into groups to help plant the coconut palms. (Robert Luckock photo)
The schoolchildren with their head teacher and some parents gathered at the former Layla’s beach bar in Sandy Ground where Hotel Mercure General Manager/owner Baki Arbia gave the children a lesson on looking after trees with a question-and-answer session.
“It’s a symbolic project,” said Arbia. “These kids live close by and they can take pride in the trees that they helped plant today. They are learning about how to look after them and about protecting the environment. As they grow up with the trees, one day they can pick up a coconut and say, ‘That was a tree I planted.’ We are very proud to be part of the community. We are not from here but we love the island and this is a way we can give back.”
Hotel Mercure General Manager Baki Arbia talks to schoolchildren about the importance of caring for trees and the environment as Guadeloupe Academy Recteur Mostafa Fourar (left) and Third Vice- President Annick Pétrus look on.
The children assisted the gardeners enthusiastically in planting the trees. Present to witness the initiative were Guadeloupe Academy Recteur Mostafa Fourar, Academic Director for national education services in St. Martin and St. Barths Michel Sanz, Schools Inspector Dominique Boyer, former Chargé de Mission for education in St. Martin and St. Barths – now with responsibilities for sports in the schools – Christophe Parisot, and third Vice-President of the Collectivité in charge of education Annick Pétrus.
