Help sought for Bahamian students at UWI

Some Bahamian students at the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus, whose families reside in hurricane-ravaged islands are unable to access funds and key living supplies, a student representative has revealed.

As a result, International Affairs Committee Chairperson on the Student’s Guild, Erwin Wills who is responsible for on-campus integration has appealed for donations in the form of money and supplies to assist them through school as their families get back on their feet.

“Hearing about the sad events that have been happening in the Bahamas has put a large dent on the morale at the campus in general as well and the Guild will not just stand by and watch our fellow CARICOM citizens suffer,” he told Barbados TODAY.

He revealed provisions had been set up on campus as part of a disaster plan in collaboration with the Barbados Youth Development Council to execute the effort.

“We have a disaster plan and we are ready to put that into effect. We are collaborating with the island associations on campus and the Barbados Youth Development Council and we are already formulating a plan in order to assist local Bahamian students on campus,” Wills said.

“So what we plan on doing is to have some barrels with donated supplies here in the guild so that students who are not able to access their funds or supplies back home for whatever reason, can come to the guild and get whatever they need until the worst of this storm passes or however long it would take disaster issues to be over.”

The initiative coincides with a huge effort being mobilised by the Government, that on Sunday will host a national telethon to raise funds.

Earlier this week, Bahamian students shared heart-wrenching stories from the experiences of their families and friends in Grand Bahama and Abaco as Hurricane Dorian pounded the islands for nearly 48 hours.

With the destructive storm behind them, the guild has started reaching out.

“Monetary donations are always accepted because once we get the word from them, we can use monetary donations to purchase whatever items they need,” said Willis.

“We have also been in contact with the Bahamian Students Association at Cave Hill and they have expressed to us that a number of students who are on campus here have been affected; their families have been affected directly by the storm, so we are looking to assist them directly right now with funds or whatever supplies they need. So if anyone wants to donate funds, then they will go directly to the Bahamian students right now,” he assured. (KS)