Sandals Foundation Celebrates Mandela Day and Human Rights at a Children’s Camp

Children attending the Lights On Day Camp in Bolans are today more aware of their rights as humans, thanks to the efforts of the Sandals Foundation.As part of an annual awareness campaign, managers and team members transform into Sandals Foundation Volunteers, happily spreading cheers to children from the camp while highlighting the legacy of Nelson Mandela’s fight for human rights. The day is also used to help the young campers recognize their own ability to have a positive effect on society.
According to Sandals Foundation Representative for Antigua, Tasheka Lavann, “This year is extra special because we had quite an entertaining programme line-up. The campers brought out their creative talents by putting together a song about Freedom accompanied by drums, while other children did poems and quotes by Mandela. By the end of our presentation on Mandela’s life and legacy, the children were very engaged in our fun trivia.”
This, Lavann adds, “shows how much reading can impact on the minds of our youth as these children were able to understand the meaning behind freedom and rights, whether it is a right to education, speech, employment or even sleep as one camper highlighted”.
At the end of the day, participants were presented with a certificate of appreciation.
Lead Volunteers of the Lights On Day Camp commended the group from Sandals for taking time to spend with the children and making a difference in their lives.
This is the fourth consecutive year Sandals Foundation has partnered with Lights On Day Camp on Mandela Day.
This year, the Sandals Foundation has undertaken outreach activities, impacting approximately 470 people in Jamaica, St. Lucia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Antigua, the Bahamas and Grenada.
Last year, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) reached out to over 300 children.
Every year on Mandela’s birthday, individuals and organisations across the world are asked to spend 67 minutes of their time to commemorate the 67 years Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa and Anti-Apartheid activist, dedicated to the fight for human rights.