Page 26 - AHATA

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Thursday 5 sepTember 2019

Happy Community Initiative meets generous family:

“We want to give back

to the places we visit”

Some Facts
Millions of people around the world love Aruba, the ONE
HAPPY ISLAND and the home away from home. Tourism
in Aruba is performing great. However, in Aruba, about
6 of 10 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18 are
alone or without adult supervision after school time. In
most cases, it is because their parents are working. In
addition to this, many of Aruba’s youngsters do not travel
(often) and experience boredom from a lack of activities
during school vacations. Furthermore, 4 out of 10 Aruban
youngsters do not finish secondary school. This is a very
big issue for Aruba’s future economy and the tourism
industry. A recent study found; At least 60% of Aruba’s
youth is asking for afterschool programs, aiming at sports,
cooking, art programs and a safe place to hang out with
their friends. q

Our Newest Column is All
ORANJESTAD — Travelling is one of life’s biggest privileges. It is wonderful to be
able to go to another place with your family and enjoy the change of environment about YOUth and Happiness
and people. The Chatterjee family from New Jersey seek to give back to the
places they go to, to help the local community and to educate their own children. ORANJESTAD — Our newest column Happy Commu-
“We read about the recently launched Happy Community Initiative (HCI) and their nity Initiative is published bi-weekly on Thursdays in
objective to raise $ 110K by next year’s month of June and there we found our Aruba Today. We inform you about this dynamic, new
goal”, says Ninna Chatterjee, mother of three children in the age of 7, 8 and 11. projects from a different angle to give you a com-
Together with husband Rocco Chatterjee they provided three Aruban children with plete feel, so follow us and stay engaged!
school supplies.
The Happy Community Initiative is a visitor charity pro-
This is a story that started with a short email. To reach out and take that first gram that you can help strengthen Aruba’s commu-
step makes the difference. Ninna read about HCI and emailed them. With the nity by donating to good causes. CEDE Aruba, a dy-
assistance of Fundacion pa nos Communidad or Foundation for our Community namic community foundation, the Aruba Timeshare
the three Aruban students were invited to participate. From there the ball kept Association (ATSA), the Aruba Tourism Authority and
rolling until that beautiful moment in The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba where the family meet several companies collaborate in this platform for
the three Aruban children to hand over their gifts. Ninna:”We wish our children to visitors who would like to make a donation, but also
be aware of the communities we visit and that happened for sure. As soon as we volunteer in the future. The priority is set to support
received the list with needed school supplies our kids insisted to pick out everything projects for Aruban youths. CEDE Aruba will make
and it had to be at least as cool as their own stuff. They wrote little notes to them sure that the donations reach meaningful projects of
so yes, our kids took very much part in this.” During the interview the sound of local non-profits, based upon quality and transpar-
the playing children in the background proofed that both sides were more than ency of finances of the offered programs. In this man-
happy, nothing seems more rewarding than that. ner, you can be assured that your donation will reach

its goal! With your donation, you support Aruban chil-
Small Gesture, Big Impact dren with after school programs, mentorship activities
Aruba’s Visitor Charity Program, the recently-launched Happy Community Initiative and social support. You can donate at the kiosks in
(HCI), is raising funds to roll out an after school program. “The objective is to raise the lobby of several hotels (Costa Linda, Playa Linda,
$110K by June 1st, 2020 which can cater to 40 youngsters for one year where they Paradise Beach Villas and La Cabana) or you can
will receive homework guidance, opportunity to participate in sports, music lessons donate on the website: https://happycommunitya-
and art classes, meals and beverages, operations costs, guidance support and ruba.org/donate.
materials”, says Kimberly Mathilda, Coordinator of HCI. More about this particular
program is to be found at page 16. Copyright CEDE Aruba