SPRING CLEANING AT THE HOME FOR THE AGED

A huge difference was made to the Northern District Home for the Aged located in Grange, Portsmouth, Dominica, by cleaning the facility and its grounds. With very limited funding and assistance being provided to the facility from the government, donors and resident’s families, a thorough cleaning was too much of a task for the staff to tackle on their own. Macario Advantage worked alongside selected volunteers for over three weeks to clean, organize, and revitalize the home.
 

The clean-up included gathering up all the non-working appliances, broken and irreparable furniture, construction debris, and other miscellaneous trash from the grounds and facility. After three full truck loads were hauled away, the large pile of debris was finally gone and the grounds were debris-free.



Macario Advantage hired a yard service to clear the highly overgrown weeds from the grounds and cut the grass around the home. We also cleaned the weeds near the entrance ramp and re-planted the flower garden. 

A plumber was hired to rectify major defects in the plumbing at this home. We purchased hardware required to fix the defects. Purchases included a new kitchen faucet, a new pressure pump and pressure accumulator, two new hot water heaters, various faucets and shower heads, toilet tank valves, etc. A major cleaning was done inside the facility as well. All closets, cabinets, cupboards and storage rooms were cleaned out, with only usable items in good condition remaining.


The columns at the entrance gate were falling down and in need of major repair. To fix the problem, the old structure was removed and reconstructed with new columns and repaired gates.



A close-out meeting was held with the manager and staff to discuss future needs. The needs identified include mosquito netting over beds, heavy duty clothes washer and dryer, adult diapers (large and extra-large), new mattresses and pillows, and comfortable chairs for the residents to sit in.

GETTING PRIMARY SCHOOL LIBRARY READY FOR OPENING

The library at the Roosevelt Douglas Primary School was transformed by Macario Advantage to get it ready for the grand opening.  The library walls, ceilings, floors and bookshelves were completely cleaned and repainted, and professionally painted pictures were added on the walls by artist Gabriel Dunstan. Working with volunteers during the week-long process created an enjoyable reading environment for the children. 



The adjacent space, used by the Special Education teacher, was cleaned and repainted, but also significantly reorganized to be more efficient.  A new desk was built for the teacher so that she can more effectively work with multiple special needs students simultaneously.  All of this work was done during the school's Easter recess. The Principal, teacher, students, and parents were excited to see the library finally opening.

We met with the school principal on our last visit to the island to discuss the needs of this school and had learned that government funding was drastically cut to help pay for repairs to national infrastructure as a result of damage from Tropical Storm Erika last August. Macario Advantage is working as a catalyst to gather support to build a canteen to feed students from families too poor to send food to school, to build a covered area where lunches can be eaten out of the sun or rain, to more fully outfit classrooms, to set up a computer lab, etc. 

A MAKEOVER THAT APPEALS TO VISITORS

Macario Advantage made improvements to the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services (P.A.Y.S.) office and events pavilion to better host boating visitors. The improvements include rearranged visitor reference material, installed notice board beside the office entrance, added stage stairs, refreshed exterior office and event hall paint, and added murals to the events pavilion.



Macario Advantage was highly instrumental in setting up a week-long Yachtie Appreciation Week event that was hosted by P.A.Y.S. in February 2016. The good impression made is expected to increase the flow of boating visitors to Dominica and enhance the local economy accordingly.

P.A.Y.S. is a private association of 12 licensed tour guides that are the principal point of contact for boating visitors to Dominica in the Portsmouth area. They provide a wide range of services, and are great ambassadors for the country.
 

MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT AND DIFFERENCE IN ALL WE DO!