Marchand Boulevard C.L.A.P. (St. Lucia)

The CLAP project was started four years ago out of the goodness of the heart of one wonderful lady, Ms. Virgil Leonty.   Marchand Boulevard is the most economically deprived community in St Lucia with high rates of unemployment, high crime incidence and a high rate of high school drop outs.

The children in the community are the most affected having to fend for themselves because they have been abandoned by the death of a parent or have a parent who is a heavy drug user.  Many of the children in the community do not go to school and as soon as they are old enough, end up turning to a life of crime themselves.

For the past couple years, Virgil has sat in the road teaching these children to read and feeding them breakfast in the mornings out of her own kitchen in order to provide some nutrition for the day.  She has worked hard to assist in getting several of the children into structured schooling and she is there as a positive role model to guide them in their lives.

We at the Sandals Foundation have been working close with Virgil to acquire a building in the Marchand community that will house the literacy center, a health clinic and be a safe haven for the children of the Marchand Community.

Our Mission is to work together to change the path of the lives of the children in Marchand!