PHILIPSBURG:---The 8th Annual Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee 2019 will kick off on Sunday, October 20th, at the Belair Community Center, organized and hosted by The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle and The Rotaract Club of St. Maarten Sunrise.
Thirty-five participants from thirteen schools have registered to participate, nine from St. Maarten and four from Anguilla. The participating schools from St. Maarten are the Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School, the Leonald Conner School, the Oranje School, the Marie Genevieve De Weever School, the St. Dominic Primary School, the St. Joseph School, the Mac Rev. John A. Gumbs Campus, the Mac Browlia F. Maillard Campus, and The Seventh Day Adventist School. The four participating schools from Anguilla are the Alwyn Allison Primary, The Valley Primary, The Morrison Vanterpool Primary, and the Vivian Vanterpool Primary.
The Spelling Bee will be held over three consecutive weeks. The preliminary will be held on Sunday, October 20th, the top ten highest scorers of the preliminary round will advance to the semi-final round which is being held on Sunday, October 27th. The five top highest scorers from the semi-final round will advance to the final round being held on Sunday, November 3rd.
All participants are expected at the Belair Community Center by 12.30 pm to register and to be ready for a prompt start at 1 pm.
Due to the success of the tutorials in 2016 and 2018 the participants again this year had the opportunity to attend two, three-hour tutorial sessions, held at the University of St. Martin.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle and the Rotaract Club of St. Maarten Sunrise encourage and welcome everyone to come out and give support to all the participants of the 8th Annual Rotary/Rotaract Spelling Bee 2019 on all three Sundays. The school with the best supporting team will win a prize.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets Tuesday at 7 pm at Pineapple Pete in Simpson Bay. For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit their Facebook page Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Last week, on international World Mental Health Day, October 10th, The Mental Health Foundation of Sint Maarten (MHF) organized the first edition of the Happiness Event at the Cultural Center in Philipsburg, and can proudly say that the event was a big success!

The goal of this evening was to inform the general public about how to acquire, maintain and share Happiness daily! That is a part of mental health we sometimes take for granted because we have a tendency to focus on the things that can go wrong with our mental health. While being happy is most important and should be dealt with even when complications arise; it is also very important to focus on the positive side of matters. To learn more about what you can do yourself to increase your own Happiness!

Multiple organizations were part of the event with very creative and interactive information booths to share their own Happiness views, tools and tricks! As Happiness is a well-known concept, the term is also a very broad one, and so four subcategories were created. The MHF, together with APAP/Inspired, focused on the mental side of Happiness by letting the audience stop and think for a second about their own happiness level, and what they currently do to maintain or increase that! Dietitian Berit & Fire Fit Gym highlighted physical Happiness, and what you can do through exercise and the right diet to give yourself a happiness boost! Happiness is contagious and feels even better shared, so AUC Medical School & K1 Britannia focused on the social factor of Happiness. Lastly, Happiness is a state, and (unfortunately) not everlasting. SZV, The Positive Foundation, and WIB explored all the ways in which you can arrange your lifestyle in such a way, that you can be happy now, but also later on!

The turn-up wildly exceeded the expectations with around 250 guests, who all walked out at the end of the evening with big smiles on their faces. However, doing anything else but smiling was of course almost impossible at this evening filled with Happy Health Jeopardy, Happiness Tree's, Happiness Cookies & Boosters, Physical Challenges, Happiness Scavenger hunts, Happiness Journals, Happiness Video's, Happiness Monopoly games, Silent disco, and a happiness journey!!!
If that wasn't enough, the stage was booming with various acts and performances like dance contests, hourly raffles, team games, tennis-ball-massage-therapy'', dancing statues and most of all, the ENERGY pumped into the audience by the amazing hosts of the evening: Elektra, the FUNTOPIA game host, and music of Mix Master Pauly!

The MHF would like to officially thank all the organizations and people who worked so hard to create interactive, fun & creative ways to inform about and spread Happiness! Organizing partners: Lab sports academy, APAP: Association for Psychologists and Allied Professionals Sint Maarten, Inspired - Psychology Practice and Consultancy, AUC School Of Medicine, K1 Britannia, Berit Bus, Fire Fit Gym, The Positive Foundation, WIB Windward Islands Bank, SZV Social & Health Insurances, Picture this Photobooth, Funtopia, Face Painting by Martine Loubser and the Classic Blends Dance Group!

And of course all our generous Sponsors: International Liquor & Tabaco, Bobby's Marina St. Maarten, Port St. Maarten, Nagico Insurances, CostUless, Shop4Less, Kooyman St. Maarten, Print & Sign Express St.Maarten, Sherrif Security, Laser 101, Philipsburg Broadcasting, The Daily Herald, PJD2 Radio, Prime Distributors, Holland House Beach Hotel, Sports Gallery, Tri-Sport, Belair Fitness Center, Belair Beach Hotel, St. Maarten Optical N.V., Maleona's, Calm Unique Spa SXM, Balls and Wine restaurant, Buffalo Wings SXM, Mark's Place, Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, Chesterfield's, St Maarten, Amsterdam Cheese & Liquor Store, Pollos Hermanos SXM, Rena for the beautiful arch, Melissa, Darren from Printexpress and all the MHF volunteers! And lastly a special thanks to the organizing committee comprising: Christine Peiser, Kimberly Naomi Maria, Suzanne Beeldsnijder, Cyrille Brooks & Abigail David!!!

If you missed it, make sure to mark October 10th, 2020 in your agenda for the second edition of the Happiness Event!

PHILIPSBURG:--- As of November 1, 2019, Philipsburg Jubilee Library will return to its pre-Hurricane Irma opening hours. This return is to accommodate, in particular, students who need to access the library’s myriad of services. The time change will also benefit readers who have fixed working hours.

Opening hours as of next month are: Mondays and Fridays: 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: 9:00 am-8:00 pm, and Saturdays 10:00 am-1:00 pm. The library is closed on Sundays.

Members and potential members are encouraged to visit the library at its current location in the Adolphus Richardson Building on W.J.A. Nisbeth Road to renew or sign up for membership and to learn about the digital library. Due to space constraints, the library has fewer physical books available than offered pre-Irma. That number, however, is boosted by the consistently growing number of digital books. A valid library card grants free access to all titles in the digital library across member’s devices.

Aside from traditional books and e-Books, the library also has a range of magazines and newspapers and offers internet access.

Library membership options cover everyone in the community and are cost-effective. Children, up to age 13, pay no membership fee. High school students pay NAf. 10 per year and adults (including seniors) pay NAf. 25 per year.

Needed to sign up for a library card are a valid form of identification, a passport-size photo, the registration fee of NAf. 25 (except for children) and the annual membership fee.

The Philipsburg Jubilee Library Board is working to improve the services the institution offers to the public. The board is supported by two taskforces in its quest to formulate plans to improve and enhance the library and its services. They are working not only on a new building but on a new concept for the library as public information, heritage and resource center. The first step to this goal was recently taken with co-financing of a new building possible through the Dutch government-financed, World Bank-administered St. Maarten Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- World Food Day (WFD) was a day of action against chronic hunger and malnutrition and the 2019 theme is: “Our actions are our future. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World.”

As part of the theme, a healthy diet is one that meets the nutritional needs of individuals by providing sufficient, safe, nutritious and diverse foods to lead an active life and reduce the risk of disease.

It includes, among others, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains, and foods that are low in fats (especially saturated fats), sugar and salt.

The United Nations (UN) Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFD partners called on people to work more closely together to create opportunities so that everyone can lead a healthy and productive life.

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, says going forward, adopting a healthier diet, promoting the need to plant vegetable/fruit gardens or by supporting local food producers are actions that support and ensure the future. CPS reminds persons to read the labels on the food packages and/or containers, make healthy decisions; know about the food you eat; make sure your plate is balanced and is at the right size; make healthy choices, exercise; eat healthy, read your food labels, check expiration dates and wash your vegetables and fruits properly. Ensure a healthy weight as we work towards Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World, the future.
The FAO says that in recent in recent decades, we have dramatically changed our diets and eating habits as a result of globalization, urbanization and income growth.
“We have moved from seasonal, mainly plant-based and fibre-rich dishes to diets that are high in refined starches, sugar, fats, salt, processed foods, meat and other animal-source products. Less time is spent preparing meals at home, and consumers, especially in urban areas, increasingly rely on supermarkets, fast food outlets, street food vendors and take-away restaurants.
“A combination of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles has sent obesity rates soaring, not only in developed countries, but also low-income countries, where hunger and obesity often coexist. Now over 670 million adults and 120 million girls and boys (5-19 years) are obese, and over 40 million children under 5 are overweight, while over 820 million people suffer from hunger.
“An unhealthy diet is the leading risk factor for deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and certain cancers. Linked with one fifth of deaths worldwide, unhealthy eating habits are also taking a toll on national health budgets costing up to USD 2 trillion per year.
“Obesity and other forms of malnutrition affect nearly one in three people. Projections indicate that the number will be one in two by 2025. The good news is that affordable solutions exist to reduce all forms of malnutrition, but they require greater global commitment and action,” the FAO said on the occasion of World Food Day.

Our actions are our future. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World