For more pictures - Click Here
|
The Queen Elizabeth Home in Tempe is the oldest children’s home in Grenada. Named after British Queen Elizabeth II, it supports children of all ages who are orphaned or in need of care. Currently it has 25 children, who are given food and lodging, taken to and from school and provided with extra-curricular activities. While some children are held temporarily until a family can be found for adoption, the Home’s eventual aim is to integrate the children in its care into the wider Grenadian community.
The Home is supported mainly by voluntary contribution and so, over the years - due largely to lack of funds - it has been difficult for them to take care of as many disadvantaged children as they would like. However, funding has recently taken a turn for the better. Following Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 donations came through UNICEF, from the US based company Johnson and Johnson, and from USAID, which has helped to rebuild parts of their property. This in turn has prompted local donors in Grenada to start giving again. The Home has also started to hold fund-raising events.
In February 2006, the Grenada Bureau of Standards sent a team of examiners from the Ministry of Health, the Child Welfare Authority and other utility experts to examine all the children’s homes in Grenada. The Queen Elizabeth Home was given a Special Award for the best in all categories. This was the first time since it was opened that it has received such recognition!
2006 saw several fund-raising events, including a Mongolian Cultural Day in Grenada, in honour of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol nation under Chinggis Khaan. However, no monies were received after this event. The money raised from other events has enabled the Home to offer overtime to three additional Childcare Assistants from IMANIE, a government sponsored programme that trains young women in childcare. It means that the Home is now able to now support another 10 children, aged 1-6 years, who had been on the waiting list.
The Queen Elizabeth Home is clearly very proud of what it has achieved so far, but there is an ever-present need for funds. The logic is simple enough - the more that can be raised, the more help can be provided to more children and the better the overall service that the Home can give. There is a need for more space, for which a new wing needs to be added to the Queen Elizabeth Home building. If you feel able to donate then we would encourage you to give to this worthy cause. |
| ^ back to top |
Ways to Donate
Definitive Caribbean has visited the Queen Elizabeth Home a number of times and so we know it and some of its staff personally. We can vouch for their authenticity and the level of need.
We are unable to take online donations at present, so the best way to donate is to either send a bank draft or cheque directly to the Home. For this and other enquires about sending books, clothes or school equipment in a parcel please use the contact details below. |
| ^ back to top |
History
The Queen Elizabeth Home for Children is the oldest children's home in Grenada. As far back as 1935, a small group of concerned citizens recognised the need for a Home to take care of the island’s destitute and uncared-for children. They formed the Children's Home Advisory Board to raise funds through voluntary contributions, but there were numerous setbacks along the way - including the outbreak of World War II - and it wasn’t until the 1950s, after some lands had been acquired in Tempe in 1952 that the project began to get off the ground.
In May 1960, the Children Home Act was passed in Parliament, which incorporated a Board of Trustees, vested the property in them and legally empowered them to manage the property of the Trust. The Act also outlined matters related to reporting and accounting and provided a mechanism for continuity of the Board, through descendants of the original Trustees (Arnold Williamson, Clarence Renwick and Albert Olivier Payne JP, MBE, grandfather of the present Trustee Sir Royston Olivier Hopkin KCMG) together with appointees by the Governor General of Grenada.
The Home was finally built in 1963 and officially opened in 1964 by the then English Administrator to Grenada, I G Turbott. Later Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II graciously consented to honour the Home with her name.
At the time of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, the Home had 25 children. Even though the building was severely damaged, there was no other place for the children to go. In spite of this the Child Welfare Authority placed another 8 children in the Home as there were no other facilities available. The building soon deteriorated and the children had to be relocated to smaller quarters while the building was repaired by USAID. This took over 11 months, during which time, due to the lack of space, ten children had to be placed in private Day Care Centres.
In December 2005, 15 children – ranging in ages from one to eight years - returned to the residence. Another 14 children are due to be placed within the next few months as the Child Welfare Authority recommends children to be placed in the Home while seeking foster parents with a view to adoption. |
| ^ back to top |
Programmes
EDUCATION
The Manager or the Assistant Manager supervises homework with the help of students from St George's University, who visit two afternoons a week. Other help is given by the Young Rotarians. Educational television programs are of special interest to the older children, as are cartoons, which they all enjoy! Staff members accompanied by friends of the Home take the children to church, school sports, concerts and the beach.
MEDICAL
Dr Beverly Nelson BSc, MD, FAAP, offers free medical attention to children at the Home. Dr Low, who has agreed to attend to the children at a reduced fee, offers dental care. Community Health personnel visit periodically and other problems are referred to the General Hospital. |
| ^ back to top |
Achievements
AWARDS
In April 2006, the Child Welfare Authority, together with the Bureau of Standards awarded the Queen Elizabeth Home with an Award of Excellence for the hard work done to help the children after the passage of Hurricanes Ivan and Emilie.
A Special Award was presented also for the first time by the Bureau of Standards for the highest marks received in all categories listed in the licensing of Home for Children.
The Director of the Child Welfare Authority recently negotiated with the Ministry of Social Services to send three young women from the IMANIE programme (a programme funded by Government to help young women who are unable to find jobs to train as Childcare Assistants to work in different Homes.) This has enabled the Home to pay the overtime for these staff members and take in eight more children and improve on their high standards. |
| ^ back to top |
Needs
Children at the Home enter school from the pre-primary grade. All the schools they attend are private schools. Due to the problems that most of them experienced before coming to the Home, they are unable to function in large public schools. The Home therefore tries to get donors to help school fees, uniforms and books.
Most of the schools are within walking distance of the Home, but a few go to a Special Learning Centre a few miles away. Transport to the school must be paid for and so funds are needed.
Due to a high need for space to accommodate more children referred by the Child Welfare Authority of Grenada, the Queen Elizabeth Home is in the process of trying to get funds to help with the building of an additional wing to the Home. The Board welcomes voluntary contributions and donations from concerned individuals, groups or corporations to enable the re-establishment of an even better facility to provide for the care and welfare of Grenada's children in need. |
| ^ back to top |
Staff
The Home is staffed by a Manager, an Assistant Manager, six Child Care Assistants, two cooks, a laundress and two gardeners. |
| ^ back to top |
Contact Us
Marion G Pierre, Chairman/Executive Trustee
Address PO Box 1127, St George's, Grenada, WI
Telephone QEH +1473 440 2327 or Private +1473 443 3435.
Or Email Here |
| ^ back to top |
|
Print
page
