PHILIPSBURG–The Oranje Fonds annually awards the Appeltjes van Oranje to social initiatives that successfully connect different groups of people. St. Maarten made it to the finals this year thanks to the presentation made by Milton Peters College student Yasmine Essed of K1 Britannia Foundation’s mentorship programme.
The semi-finals took place in Curaçao recently and several organisations made presentations to the committee in charge of the Oranje Fonds organisation. Only two could progress to the finals in The Netherlands. Saba also made it to the finals.
Essed gave a five-minute presentation about the K1 Britannia mentorship programme which specifically focuses on abused children.
According to the foundation’s Vice President Pryanka Thirumur, foster children and teenagers are among the most fragile and needy groups of youth on the island.
“Our goal is to provide these youths help and assistance in a variety of forms,” she stated.
“Working together with St. Maarten’s Court of Guardianship, some of our long-term projects are: providing mentors for each foster child and teenager; providing volunteers to assist the foster homes who are in need of staff; providing material and other assistance to the foster homes; organizing educational, sports and extracurricular activities for the foster children and teenagers; conducting training and life-skill workshops for the teenagers; providing jobs, job-training and scholarships for the teenagers leaving foster care, to help them head towards a bright future; providing life counselling for the teenagers; and more.”
The theme for next year’s Apples of Orange is “Strong Children.” The organisation stated in a previous release, “Children sometimes grow up in difficult situations. Fortunately, there are many initiatives that are committed to let them do as well as possible without placing them in a unique position; for instance, by helping children to develop or support just parents in education. There are also projects that help children to better their own living environment.”
“I am happy to have represented St. Maarten and I was the youngest presenter to have ever presented at this event. I was told this by the Director, Ronald van der Giessen. We will be meeting the Princess and Prince next year at a special ceremony in the Netherlands,” said Essed.
The Appeltje van Oranje includes a prize of 15,000 euros and a bronze sculpture created by Princess Beatrix. Appeltje is a token of appreciation for existing successful social initiatives that succeed in bringing different groups of people together in a special way.
Thirumur said it was a victory for St. Maarten, not the organisation. She wishes to increase the number of volunteers to her programme and hopes that it continues to play a major role with abused children.
PHILIPSBURG–The Oranje Fonds annually awards the Appeltjes van Oranje to social initiatives that successfully connect different groups of people. St. Maarten made it to the finals this year thanks to the presentation made by Milton Peters College student Yasmine Essed of K1 Britannia Foundation’s mentorship programme.
The semi-finals took place in Curaçao recently and several organisations made presentations to the committee in charge of the Oranje Fonds organisation. Only two could progress to the finals in The Netherlands. Saba also made it to the finals.
Essed gave a five-minute presentation about the K1 Britannia mentorship programme which specifically focuses on abused children.
According to the foundation’s Vice President Pryanka Thirumur, foster children and teenagers are among the most fragile and needy groups of youth on the island.
“Our goal is to provide these youths help and assistance in a variety of forms,” she stated.
“Working together with St. Maarten’s Court of Guardianship, some of our long-term projects are: providing mentors for each foster child and teenager; providing volunteers to assist the foster homes who are in need of staff; providing material and other assistance to the foster homes; organizing educational, sports and extracurricular activities for the foster children and teenagers; conducting training and life-skill workshops for the teenagers; providing jobs, job-training and scholarships for the teenagers leaving foster care, to help them head towards a bright future; providing life counselling for the teenagers; and more.”
The theme for next year’s Apples of Orange is “Strong Children.” The organisation stated in a previous release, “Children sometimes grow up in difficult situations. Fortunately, there are many initiatives that are committed to let them do as well as possible without placing them in a unique position; for instance, by helping children to develop or support just parents in education. There are also projects that help children to better their own living environment.”
“I am happy to have represented St. Maarten and I was the youngest presenter to have ever presented at this event. I was told this by the Director, Ronald van der Giessen. We will be meeting the Princess and Prince next year at a special ceremony in the Netherlands,” said Essed.
The Appeltje van Oranje includes a prize of 15,000 euros and a bronze sculpture created by Princess Beatrix. Appeltje is a token of appreciation for existing successful social initiatives that succeed in bringing different groups of people together in a special way.
Thirumur said it was a victory for St. Maarten, not the organisation. She wishes to increase the number of volunteers to her programme and hopes that it continues to play a major role with abused children.
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