SINT MAARTEN:--- Fourteen social organizations from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten have commenced the second year of the ‘Strengthening Families Together’ program with renewed focus and shared commitment. During a two-day regional conference on Sint Maarten in November 2025, participants engaged in keynote sessions, technical workshops, and field visits to enhance organizational capacity and strengthen their collective contribution to improving the well-being of families living in vulnerable circumstances.
For Strengthening Families Together, Netherlands-based funders ‘Kinderpostzegels’ and ‘Oranje Fonds’, in collaboration with local advisors, selected 14 organizations committed to promoting equal opportunities for children and young people, supporting parents and caregivers in vulnerable situations, and addressing the urgent issue of poverty across the islands. Alongside project implementation, participants take part in inter-island learning activities and receive tailored capacity-building support from three local capacity-strengtheners. The annual gathering provides a structured moment for reflection, peer exchange, and joint development.
Frontline experience is a superpower
In the opening speech of the conference, Suzette Moses-Burton emphasized the power of frontline experience. Organizations working directly with families gain access to insights that are often absent from formal systems, and these observations play a vital role in identifying gaps, risks, and opportunities. Moses-Burton, chief of staff of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, highlighted five considerations for strengthening organizational effectiveness: clarity about one’s role within complex social issues; deliberate team and leadership development; working both with the system and on the system; recognition of families as partners; and the importance of maintaining motivation and joy in the work. These principles frame the program's broader objective of reinforcing organizational resilience and strategic capacity.
Breaking the silence
A second keynote by Carla Vlaun, managing director of Tackling Law, highlighted the silences that must be broken to create lasting change for the people the organizations work with, and to influence policy. These silences touch on themes such as sexual health, mental resilience, financial shame, documentation, and the cultural norms that shape gender-based violence. The keynote sparked a shared realization that true impact often begins with daring to ask difficult questions, giving participants rich material to reflect on together through the lens of their own frontline experiences.
Sharing stories and building on impact
In the photo exhibition Sharing Stories, participants shared powerful portraits and stories of people who, despite vulnerable circumstances, feel seen and can show their resilience when given access to the opportunities these organizations provide. Through careful attention to consent and dignity, the personal stories on display made the organization’s impact tangible. Workshops further enabled participants to articulate their outputs, outcomes, and intended impact, and to reflect on internal and external factors that shape resilience within people and communities.
Inspirational site visits
During the conference, participants gained a better understanding of the work of three Sint Maarten-based organizations engaged in the program:
- 721 Kids Foundation hosted the group for a site visit, showing them the limited space in which they provide care and after-school support to children, including those with special needs, with unlimited flexibility and passion, as well as hosted a buddy activity whereby collaboration was key;
- Kids at Sea, creating access to maritime training and skills development for young people, taught the group through a hands-on communication exercise how essential clear communication is, both at sea and in daily life.
- At Freegan Food Foundation, participants joined a cooking workshop and dinner, met volunteers, and sorted clothing and toys for families affected by the hurricane in Jamaica together.
Starting year 2 with renewed focus
In the coming year, capacity-strengtheners on each island will continue to offer tailored support to participating organizations. An accompanying study will assess the effectiveness of both the organizations’ interventions and the program as a whole.
The group will reconvene in November 2026 on Curaçao for the next regional meeting. By then, participating organizations are expected to have further advanced their internal capacity, strengthened their local networks, and contributed more robustly to the shared objective: Strengthening Families Together.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The 21st Annual National Day of Prayer will take place on January 11th at the Government Administration Building in Philipsburg, with the theme “Holding fast to the Lord with hands that serve and hearts that pray”. The National Day of Prayer is held every year on the second Sunday in January, and all persons residing or visiting Sint Maarten are cordially invited to pray and worship at the National Day of Prayer.
