Seventh-Day Adventists in Saba give 33 bicycles

Members of the Mount Scenery Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church served some 33 Saban youngsters with bicy­cles on Sunday. This project was made possible through one of the many Ministry of Social Affairs and Employ­ment SZW in The Hague initiatives called “Oppor­tunities for all Children” (“Kansen voor alle Kin­deren”).

The Mount Scenery SDA Church was one of the non­profit organisations to re­ceive funds to execute proj­ects for the youth of Saba, of which this cycling project was the first.

In collaboration with the Centre for Youth and Fam­ily, Caribbean Netherlands Police Force KPCN and the Social Domain Depart­ment of the public entity Saba, the SDA project lead­ers were able to make this project a success. “Where required, our church will continue to work with these entities for any future proj­ects,” it was stated.

Before receiving their bi­cycles, girls, boys and their parents present were given detailed and dear instruc­tions on safe riding by local Police Inspector Wingrove Baker. Baker mentioned points such as how to properly place your feet on the bike pedals, the correct way to secure helmets, and how and when to change bike gears. He also extended an open invitation to approach him for any necessary assis­tance.

Social Domain Depart­ment representative Cadel­la Marten shared that more cycling activities are in the “pipeline” for all those youths who now have bikes.

There was much excite­ment from the children and their parents during this event. Some youngsters expressed that they had never had a bike before and were very pleased to have received one. Their parents were also happy with this project.

“I was very much im­pressed by the excitement of the kids,” was the senti­ment of project leader Ann Leter-Lake. “Bringing the resources where a differ­ence is to be made is what we as a church have been called by our Saviour to do.”

She said Saba’s SDA Church had worked very hard to make this event special and unique for the boys and girls of Saba. “We are grateful and thank God for the support from the Ministry of SZW in The Hague. We can gladly say that for us the `Kansen voor alle Kinderen’ scheme has been successful. How­ever, there are even greater things in store on our part for the island should God choose to spare our lives.” The SDA Church extended “special thanks” to project leaders Mervin Alexander and Leter-Lake. Addition­al gratitude went to Dozlyn Pouchie for his “tremen­dous and courageous” sup­port in transporting the bikes and their accessories from St. Maarten.

“We, the SDA family in Saba, will continue to sup­port and contribute to the community under the guid­ance and leadership of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” Leter-Lake said.

The Daily Herald.