Club Sponsors Trinidad Camp

After a year-long fundraising campaign that kicked off last fall, the Harvard Caribbean Club collected enough cash to sponsor a six-week summer camp for Trinidadian children infected with HIV.

In June, two club members personally presented the $1,000 donation to the Cyril Ross Nursery, an orphanage in Tunapuna, Trinidad that has drawn support from a variety of volunteers, including Danny Glover and Nelson Mandela.

“[The nursery is] the only orphanage for children with HIV in the Caribbean,” said last year’s club president, Alexander C. Paddington ’07, a native of Trinidad who chose the orphanage as a place to direct the club’s community service efforts.

According to United Nations statistics, the Caribbean has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world after Sub-Saharan Africa, and thousands of children have been left as orphans by the disease.

Paddington, who hand-delivered the check along with the club’s current president, Ayodola A. Adigun ’06, said, “The money was used to fund the entire summer camp for the kids. There is no school, so the kids need something to do.”

After visiting the orphanage, Adigun said she was moved by the experience. “I love children and to see them in that form, so weak, was so motivating because I want to be a doctor,” she said.

Paddington said it was rewarding to see the impact of the donation.

“They were all very happy. The people working there and the doctors were delighted that we were there,” he said.

After this summer’s successful visit, club members said they hope to continue their involvement with Cyril Ross in the future.

This coming summer, the club plans to send a group of Harvard students on a service trip to the nursery to tutor and interact with the children.

Last year, the club held parties in dining halls to raise money, with one party attracting over 500 people. “We had some pretty wild parties,” Paddington said.

The club plans to fund this year’s trip with more parties, and has already begun to raise money after hosting a party on Sept. 24.

The club will also expand its local community outreach by contributing to two more programs this year.

Community service representative Rebecca L. Smith ’08 said that the club will volunteer with New England Scores, a camp that combines literacy and athletics, and Community Servings, a service that brings food to the homes of people infected with HIV or AIDS.