PHILIPSBURG:--- On the last day of 2019, all seven Foresee (4C) Foundation board members came together and evaluated the past year while gearing up for 2020.
2019 was a symbolic year where several large projects were executed after hurricane Irma and new projects were started thanks to the financial support of several local and international funding agencies, the business community and private persons.
Fifteen St. Maarten post-hurricane Irma educational projects were nearly completed with the financial support of Windsong International Foundation. These projects will be closed off with the official launch of the third and last large playground at Seventh Day Adventist Primary School during the second week of January 2020. Other items in this project included uniforms for schools and foster home kids, educational materials, IT equipment, financial aid for after school programs, cultural-educational support and more. This was a project with a total value of US$ 150,000.
Another similar major project, called the ‘Soualiga’ project, made possible by a private local donation, enabled Foresee to assist more schools and social organizations. Recently, two Catholic Schools and the Excellence Learning Academy received laptops/tablets to enable them to implement and integrate additional information technology in their schools. These were three donations out of more than ten organizations that benefitted so far from this project.
Another project was started up by some young Foresee Foundation board members, who have a passion for gaming. Via a game design competition held earlier in 2019, a number of St. Dominic High School students have been working hard for the past ten months to design a mobile game, combining storytelling, scriptwriting, visual art, graphic design, and programming skills. The mobile game, set to launch sometime this year in 2020, will be available for free download to play.
A slightly different approach combining education and building on community networks through lifelong learning and connecting people was started under the name of NPOwerSXM in early 2019. Thanks to the funding by the Dutch Disaster Fund (Nationaal Rampenfonds), Foresee Foundation got the opportunity to expand its projects including all non-profit initiatives. An online database for NGOs / Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) was set up, where community-based organizations’ initiatives are shared with the community through Facebook and several workshops and training were conducted.
Since Foresee Foundation’s start in October 2013, donors have shown consistent confidence in Foresee volunteer board members who meet at private and public spaces avoiding office rent and using phones and the internet to conduct programs. This has resulted in limiting overhead costs to a maximum of 2%, ensuring that St. Maarten and other Caribbean educational entities and NPOs fully benefit from grants and donations. It also encouraged many volunteers and businesses to support Foresee in its community endeavors to connect St. Maarten community groups.
For 2020, Foresee Foundation continues to live by its four C’s of Communication, Collaboration, Creative and Critical thinking, encouraging and supporting positive initiatives in St. Maarten community.
High on the agenda with the recent appointment of Cassandra Richardson as the new project coordinator will be the continuation of the NPOwer project by connecting the NGOs, promoting and sharing their good work while also supporting them with capacity-strengthening initiatives.
Additionally, a new project will start under the name of ‘Escape the Classroom’, an innovative IT concept promoting practical problem solving and collaboration in St. Maarten classrooms. Last but definitely not least, the For The Win (FTW) wing of Foresee will launch the first official For The Win Gaming app and plans to further expand gaming initiatives in collaboration with other foundations.
On behalf of the Foresee board, President Jose Verschueren-Sommers thanks all grant recipients, volunteers, funders, the business community, Non-Profit Organizations and the community for the huge support received and looks forward to another exciting year building further on St. Maarten communities. For more information, please visit the different websites and Facebook pages related to all projects or contact one of the Foresee Foundation board members.