On Wednesday, December 5th, 2018, members of the Rotary Club of Gros Islet handed over a mobile dental unit to the Department of Health and Wellness. At a brief ceremony at The Boys Training Centre at Massade, Gros Islet, where the unit will be located initially, Past President Matt Render, who is the current Rotary Foundation Chair for the Rotary Club of Gros Islet, officially handed the unit over to Minister for Health and Wellness, Senator, the Honourable Mary Isaac and Dr. Sherry Ephraim-LeCompte, Senior Dental Surgeon. The hand over was attended by Mr. Wang Sonson, Manager of the Boys’ Training Centre, staff and trainees. Also in attendance were members of the Government Information Service, Hot FM Television, and DBS. 
Past President Matt said that the unit was purchased through a District Grant which meant that the money came from The Rotary Foundation. This unit replaces a mobile unit that Rotary Gros Islet had purchased through an earlier Grant, but which had been destroyed by floods some years earlier. The Foundation is funded by Rotarians worldwide and Rotary Gros Islet has received Grants from the Foundation well in excess of what Local Rotarians have contributed.
Past President Matt cited the last major project which was a 150,000-gallon water tank at Plateau Babonneau which currently provides water to approximately six thousand persons in the surrounding area. The value of this project exceeded $500,000 with Rotary in the District funding a mere $15,000 approximately, the remainder coming from Rotary in Florida/Georgia USA, and the Rotary Foundation.
Minister Isaac for her part expressed the gratitude of her government for the support that Rotary has provided to the communities in Saint Lucia and in particular for this latest donation valued at US$9,000.
The mobile dental unit allows the Department of Health and Wellness to deploy dental technicians to schools in the North and carry out preventative procedures to promote good dental health. In the past, the deployment of the earlier unit, assisted the Health Services to reduce the incidence of cavities in school children significantly. The Rotary Club of Gros islet also paid for the dental treatments out of its’ own resourses. 
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Ernest Noeline, Becky's guest attended the symposium and said that he was very impressed by the presentations and the fellowship that he had experienced. He is very interested in joining our club. Great meeting except that the service was slow and some of us had to leave before dessert.
Remember that Christmas isn't always great for everyone. It is time to think about others and to do our bit to make lives better.
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