In the afternoon, State Secretary, Mrs. Bijleveld, will visit the No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation. The foundation provides a successful after-school care program in the district of Sucker Garden. Approximately 150 children who are kept busy with, among other things, homework counseling, sports, handicraft and social skills are participating in this program. They also get a hot lunch every day.
While on the 24 and 25, State Secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Mrs. Ank Bijleveld Schouten, will be visiting St. Eustatius. She will be accompanied by BES Commissioner Henk Kamp. The theme of the State Secretary's visit is the cooperation programs that the Netherlands has with the BES Islands. In this framework, there will be progress consultations with the Island Government.
Subsequently, Mrs. Bijleveld will visit a number of projects, including the Youth Care Foundation (financed by AMFO), whose objective is improving the social, mental and physical development of the youth. Furthermore, attention will be paid to recollecting and processing waste in St. Eustatius.
At the beginning of the evening, there will be an information meeting on what will change and what the consequences will be when St. Eustatius becomes a special municipality of the Netherlands. On Wednesday morning, February 25, the State Secretary's visit to the Windward Islands will end and she will leave for Bonaire.
At the end of the afternoon, the State Secretary will travel on to Saba.
On Monday afternoon, February 23, State Secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Mrs. Ank Bijleveld Schouten, will address the people of Saba from 17.30 till 17.30 during a special information meeting at the Eugenius Center in Windwardside. The theme of the visit is the cooperation programs that the Netherlands has with the BES Islands. During her visit to the BES Islands, State Secretary, Mrs. Bijleveld, will be accompanied by BES Commissioner Henk Kamp. During this second round (the first information meeting was in July 2008) the State Secretary will give more detailed information on what will change and what the consequences will be when the islands become a special municipality of the Netherlands.
On Tuesday, February 24, the State Secretary will deliberate with the Island Government and she will pay a visit to a number projects financed by AMFO, including the Aids Foundation. In the battle against AIDS, this foundation has set up a long-range program, in which several aspects are considered, such as sexuality and discrimination. By means of various activities, the Saban foundation is trying to to increase the knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS. State Secretary, Mrs. Bijleveld, will also visit the Old Age Home, where the Saba Benevolent Foundation will soon initiate a training program for nurses working there. Around noon, the State Secretary will leave the island and fly on to St. Eustatius.