In a powerful show of support and celebration for Curacao’s historic participation in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup games, Sandals Resorts, AFC Ajax, and the Sandals Foundation have mobilized thousands of students in its Future Goals programme to adorn the streets of Kura Hulanda with sustainable art decorations celebrating The Blue.
The masterpiece, which was unveiled on World Oceans Day, Monday June 8, served as the highly anticipated Year End Event for the local football programme which implements an 8-week curriculum to primary school students blending in-class learning with on-the-field training– teaching skills in teamwork, problem-solving, and confidence - all through the game of football.
“Across the island, there is an electric energy anticipating the debut of members of the Blue Wave© as they take to the world’s biggest sporting stage,” says Patrice Gilpin, Public Relations Manager Sandals Foundation. “To help celebrate, we wanted to create an opportunity for students to be part of this historic milestone. With the support of craft moms, plastics and lost fish nets were reimagined to create colourful works of art. The materials will then be donated to Limpi for continued recycling.”
As a build up to the Ocean’s Day Street Reveal, students across 21 schools and local recycling company Limpi collected 384kg of blue, white and yellow plastic waste, 192.319 plastic lids and 40m2 of ghost nets . Students also got a chance to take part in their own schoolyard football tournament, making the magic of the moment even more real.
“The love of football lives and breathes in the hearts of families on this island. There was no better way to bring this year’s event to a close than to have every school showcase their skills on and off the field,” says Future Coach Clayton Goeloe.
Launched in 2022, the Future Goals programme serves as a unique vehicle for promoting physical play and raising environmental education and stewardship amongst students with goals made from recycled plastics and ghost nets pulled from the sea. To date, the programme has collected more than 3,400 kg of plastic waste, 1.7 million plastic lids and 315 m² of ghost nets.
“It has been four incredible years of partnership. We believe youth is the future and has the power to shape it. Educating youth together with our partner Sandals Resorts on life skills and caring for the island is something we truly value and is deeply rooted in our club philosophy,” says Cas Biesta, Chief Commercial Officer at AFC Ajax.
As part of activities commemorating World Environment Day, 28 students from New Hope Primary and Kings Primary School joined farmers, Forestry Department representatives, environmental wardens, and the Sandals Foundation to plant fruit trees in Whitehouse, Westmoreland. The activity forms part of the Foundation's support of Jamaica's national RE-LEAF (Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework) Initiative. As part of its commitment, the philanthropic organization has distributed 360 fruit trees to schools and farmers to aid landscape restoration and food security efforts.
A variety of food trees including breadfruit, ackee, jackfruit, mango, avocado, soursop, and Otaheite apple were distributed to Culloden Early Childhood Institution, Whitehouse Basic School, New Hope Primary School, Kings Primary School, Petersville Primary School, and Petersville Early Childhood Institution as well as to members of the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Association to increase access to locally grown produce
Heidi Clarke, Executive Director of the Sandals Foundation, said the Organization’s choice of trees was a deliberate effort to build the resilience of the communities. "We chose fruit trees because in addition to helping to restore green space sand biodiversity, they sustain a community’s food security. "
Recently, Whitehouse farmers joined students of Kings and New Hope Primary School students, Forestry Department representatives, and Sandals Foundation environmental wardens to plant 20 trees – demonstrating a community approach to their landscape restoration efforts.
"Reforestation is about much more than planting trees," said Georgia Scarlett, Environmental Manager at the Sandals Foundation. " It is also about ensuring future generations understand their role in protecting the natural resources that sustain our communities. By placing fruit trees in schools and farming communities, we are creating opportunities for learning, nourishment, and long-term environmental stewardship.
For Caribbean communities facing growing pressure on food systems, green spaces, and natural resources, the project offers a practical model for local action. By placing fruit trees in schools and farming communities, the initiative gives residents more than seedlings. It gives them a direct role in producing food, restoring shade, and protecting the environment their children will inherit.
For a child, the right book can spark confidence, unlock imagination, and shape a lifelong relationship with learning. That belief is at the heart of the Sandals Foundation’s longstanding partnership with Hands Across the Sea, a leading literacy nonprofit advancing childhood literacy across the Eastern Caribbean. Together, the organizations are expanding targeted literacy support for 1192 students across five schools in Antigua through the latest phase of the Hands Across the Sea Caribbean Literacy and School Support (CLASS) programme.
Backed by an investment of EC $54,607 from the Sandals Foundation, the initiative has delivered carefully curated collections of brand-new books, specialized literacy resources, and strengthened lending libraries tailored to each participating school's needs across Antigua. The enhanced spaces are creating vibrant environments where students can engage, explore, and grow.
Across the island, students at TOR Memorial School, St. Michael’s Primary, Urlings Primary, Parham Primary, and Princess Margaret Secondary School are already benefiting from strengthened library spaces supported by librarians, educators, and school teams actively encouraging reading engagement.
“Through our Caribbean Literacy and School Support (CLASS) programme, Hands Across the Sea does far more than place books on shelves,” says Ben Engle, Executive Director of Hands Across the Sea. “We help create or rejuvenate school libraries, train and support literacy champions on the ground, and work alongside educators to ensure resources remain active, relevant, and impactful long after delivery.”
This deeply intentional approach is what makes the partnership especially powerful.
“Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, schools are identified based on need,” continued Engle, “Each school’s collection is thoughtfully assembled to reflect students’ reading levels, classroom realities, and developmental stages. The result is literacy support that is both practical and personal.”
For the Sandals Foundation, the partnership represents an essential component to creating stronger communities.
“Education remains one of the most powerful ways we strengthen communities, and literacy sits at the heart of that journey,” said Heidi Clarke, Executive Director of the Sandals Foundation. “Our partnership with Hands Across the Sea is especially meaningful because it combines shared purpose with proven expertise. Their understanding of the literacy landscape across our region allows us to invest in ways that are thoughtful, strategic, and deeply responsive to the needs of children and educators alike.”
Founded in 2007, Hands Across the Sea has become one of the Eastern Caribbean’s most trusted literacy partners. The organization works directly with schools, educators, Ministries of Education, and local literacy specialists to build meaningful, sustainable reading cultures.
The latest initiative builds on 5 years of Sandals Foundation partnership with Hands Across the Sea in Antigua, Saint Lucia, and Grenada—outfitting numerous libraries on the islands. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to ensuring more Caribbean children have access to the tools, spaces, and encouragement they need to thrive.
Because every confident reader begins with access, and someone who believes they could become one.
When the 2023 volcanic eruption threatened food security in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a group of women - administrators, teachers, bankers, nurses, housewives, and grandmothers—came together in the kitchen of the Kingstown Baptist Church to prepare meals for displaced families. Concerned about worsening food shortages, they began planting vegetable crops and soon organised themselves into a work team, transforming once derelict spaces at the Botanical Gardens and the Intermediate High School into thriving community gardens. Planting cash crops including tomatoes, sweet and flavour peppers, broccoli, celery, spinach, beans, ochres and potatoes, the ladies employed sustainable growing methods learned through technical guidance from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Conservation Fund (SVGCF) and other trained practitioners.
What began as community response has since evolved into the Eco Home Gardens (EHG) Project—a growing women-led agribusiness initiative building the capacity of more than 100 women in organic farming—meeting food needs within their homes and respective communities.
“We started because we were afraid—afraid there wouldn’t be enough food. We knew nothing about farming, but we knew we had to do something. So, we came together, we learned, and now we’re producing—not just for ourselves, but for others as well,” shared Bernadette Duncan, President of the Eco Home Gardens Project.
A New Chapter Begins
Through an investment of approximately EC$54,000 from the Sandals Foundation, participants received commercial agro-processing support with the provision of a dehydrator, industrial stove, refrigerator, slicer and grinder, along with requisite training.
The equipment has enabled the ladies to transform surplus harvests from their communities into value-added products including ginger and turmeric powders, grated coconut and fruit blends—preparing to enter formal retail markets. One standout product—crystallized ginger—is already gaining traction locally and internationally both as a snack and for its medicinal benefits.
“I started making the crystallized ginger because I was ill and couldn’t find it anywhere when I needed it. Now it’s helping people with sinus issues, colds, and coughs—and they’re buying it, even taking it overseas. That’s when I realized this was bigger than just us,” said Duncan.
Beyond value-added production, the support from the Sandals Foundation has placed strong focus on standards and market readiness. Through capacity building trainings in food safety, product development, branding, marketing, and product labelling—the ladies ensure that they are in alignment with the requirements of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards.
“We didn’t just learn how to grow—we learned how to present, how to package, how to meet standards. That changed everything. Now we’re ready for supermarket shelves, not just stalls,” noted Sylvia Richards, who leads agro-processing efforts within the group.
For Richards, the shift is also about rethinking value at its core: “There’s so much produce here that goes to waste—tomatoes, ginger, everything. You see it spoil, and you know it could be something more. Now, we’re taking what would have been lost and turning it into products people actually want and need.”
Organic Farming at its Core
As the team looks towards supplying the local and international markets, at its core is a commitment to growing foods organically. Over the years, its success has been largely attributed to the implementation of smart climate farming techniques that enable their crops to thrive.
“With guidance from facilitators through the SVG Conservation Fund, we learned practical techniques that helped the garden thrive, even in difficult conditions. Through sponsorship from the New Zealand High Commission, we installed drip irrigation, are harvesting water from the school’s roof, and using coconut coir to help keep the soil moist during the heat,” said Mrs. Duncan.
For Odini Sutherland, that approach has built her confidence as a new farmer. “I’m a fashion designer—I’ve never farmed a day in my life, but being part of this has changed how I think about food, about sustainability, about what we can create for ourselves.” It showed me that you don’t have to start as an expert—you just have to start.”
Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at the Sandals Foundation, says initiatives like Eco Home Gardens represent more than agricultural support—they represent food security, resilience and the power of communities to rebuild themselves.
“What these women have built is powerful. They have taken a moment of uncertainty and turned it into opportunity—not just for themselves, but for their communities. This is what moving hope forward looks like—creating systems that sustain livelihoods, strengthen food security, and empower people to shape their own futures.”
Across the Caribbean, the Sandals Foundation supports people-first solutions that strengthen food security and expand economic opportunities for women and other marginalized groups in Grenada, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos Islands, Antigua, Barbados, and The Bahamas.
In St. Vincent, that future for the Eco Home Gardens team is shaping up to be limitless as affirmed by President Duncan, “We don’t just want to make products—we want to build a business. We test, we learn, we improve. We’re ready.”
