Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino helped organize a World Tourism Day 2014 celebration at Hilario Angela College in San Nicolas, an elementary school in the local public school system.
The school had just received a much-needed facelift from the resort, and its freshly painted walls and columns and nicely cleared grounds welcomed the Minister of Education, La Cabana Board Members and the local press for a diverse educational program.
Over the past few years La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino has adopted the school assuming the responsibility for its maintenance and upkeep. The work has been done by the engineering department and volunteers of the resort’s Eagle Team, with materials and resources from local companies such as Arince Interiors, AMC Unicon, Manuel Villeros General Contractor, Sherwin Williams paints and more.
One of the teachers, Patricia Cijntje, originally went to the resort for some help with a class project. When asked about the school’s situation she shared her concerns about the facility’s deplorable state of repair and maintenance. La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino listened and following a close evaluation handled by engineers Stanley de Cuba, Nicolaas Gei and Errol Tromp decided that indeed, the work was required, and best of all, it was feasible.
In collaboration with various companies and associates armed with paint, brushes and brooms, the resort took over the school’s physical improvements, determined to fix the situation.
Pictured here the World Tourism Day ceremony at the refreshed Hilario Angela college gymnasium, with students and teachers in attendance. Following the singing of the national anthem, the Minister of Education and Lifelong Learning Michelle Hooyboer-Winklaar urged the students to maintain their school in a good state of repair and wished them a successful academic year, in their bright and welcoming environment. She also praised the resort for adopting the school in the spirit of reaching out to the community, which is the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day.
School principal Connie Aventurin-Connor expressed the school’s gratitude and awarded the benefactors certificates of appreciation for sharing and caring.
After a short program emceed by the resort’s Ena Vrolijk, with contributions from resort executives Pierre Kock and Aichel Lynch the kids enjoyed hotdogs, Disney Recreations jumping castles, face painting, balloons, a clown, popcorn and refreshments.
Hilario Angela College in San Nicolas is located in a lower middle class neighborhood, and is struggling to maintain high quality education and care for the students in the face of budget cuts and economic hardship. La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino’s contribution is priceless, says school principal Aventurin-Connor.
Sincere gratitude to the following companies for their collaboration, helping the school achieve a new look for the school-year 2014-2015: UNICON, Ronald in het Veld; MANUEL VILLEROS CONTRACTOR, Manuel Villeros; SHERWIN WILLIAMS, Ernst Mohamed; ARINCE, Fabio Kelly. Cornelia Aventurin-Connor, Tricia Cijntje, Nicolaas Gei, Errol Tromp, the Maintenance Team and chief Stanley de Cuba. Pierre Kock, F&B Director. The Eagle Team, dedicated to the Tourism and Community Development theme, with president Aichel Lynch. Disney Recreations entertainment. The F&B Team together with the EPI trainees from the Hospitality and Tourism unit. General Manager Joe Najjar.
