Dear Editor,
It has been great to see so many people involved with the well-being of others in the last two weeks. Money has been donated to lots of different non-profit organizations, non-profit organizations shared out meals and supported the less fortunate at home and overseas and turkey and ham have been shared out by those who could afford it. Lots of volunteers put in their free time to bring light to their fellow man and woman.
We, Soualiga Social Movement, believe that one of the issues that we are facing today in our society is the focus on "self" instead of "us". You can have all the money in the world, but if you need to barricade your house, can't walk on the street when it's dark and your environment is severely polluted and damaged then the quality of your life isn't that great.
Once again we would like to put the emphasis on the importance of the individual contributing and participating in his or her community. Even when an individual is "struggling" with his or her own issues, a small contribution to the community is adding up to make a huge difference. We should all participate in clean-ups in our neighborhood and beaches, we should all be careful that we don't throw garbage all over the place (because that little bit of garbage also adds up), we should take time for each other and communicate with each other, we should listen to the stories about our island back in the days and spread those stories among the youth, we should help each other with repairs and maintenance to our houses and yards, we should grow our own food (even when it is just one or two pots, because of lack of space), etc.
We were once named "The Friendly Island" for a reason. Times change and we can't bring back that what once was, but we believe that participating in our community is a small thing to do to enhance the quality of life. If we can do it two weeks in a year, we can also do it fifty-two weeks in a year. Awareness, inclusion and participation! Don't leave no man, woman or child behind! Regardless of race, religion, small or tall: Let's work together in the best interest of us all as one community on Sint Maarten!
Dear editor, we thank you for publicizing our opinion letters over the past year and we are looking forward to have many more opinion letters published in the future. We wish you and your staff a wonderful year ending! And to all the people on this beautiful rock that once was called Oualichi and Soualiga and now Sint Maarten/Saint Martin: We wish you all the best in the upcoming year and we hope that we all can keep "the holiday spirit" alive! Happy New Year! #sxmmovement
Soualiga Social Movement
