Hydrate Caribbean: Great Pacific and Barbados Diabetes Foundation Collaborate for School Water Station Sponsorship

Great Pacific and the Barbados Diabetes Foundation have collaborated again to sponsor a Hydrate Caribbean water station for another school.

At the launch at Parkinson Memorial on Thursday, the students were told how different this provision was from what many of us grew up with and what several schools today are still lacking.

Marsha White, General Manager of The Maria Holder Diabetes Centre for the Caribbean, told the students: “I hope you guys know how lucky you are. I remember when I went to school and all we had was water coming out of a tap that was warm, and that doesn’t taste very good, does it?

“It’s not just about choosing water instead of sugary beverages, it’s actually about drinking more water. We have to drink more water when we live in a hot climate.”

Recognising that persons prefer a cold beverage to hydrate them and cool them down on these hot days, White continued, “The smallest thing that you can do is drink water, but unless the water tastes good and is cold, it’s not always pleasant to drink water, and that’s probably why we often reach for a cold drink – something that is sugary. It’s not just about the sugar, it’s the temperature.

“So this is the beautiful thing about this water filling station – that it’s clean water. They have a filtration system in there to filter your water and make sure it’s super clean.”

White also asked the students to spread the importance of hydration to their families.

“We hope you will also take this message home and share it with your parents. We call it the trickle up effect – where you can tell your parents, who may or may not be struggling with health issues like diabetes and high blood sugar – that drinking more water can actually have a very positive effect on their health,” he said.

Representing Sponsor, Great Pacific, Lisa Estwick, Corporate Administrator, expressed their delight of this ongoing partnership with Newport and the Hydrate Caribbean initiative.

“Great Pacific is grateful to have partnered with Newport water and the Barbados Diabetes Foundation to provide this water station to (Parkinson). We understand how important water is to our diet. So it’s really,really crucial that we make the choice to drink water and not sodas. So thank you for giving us this opportunity and we look forward to collaborating with Newport going forward,” she said.

Before the station was unveiled and the students got their first sips of refreshing water, the school’s principal Captain Adrian Ward thanked the three organisations for making water accessible to every student on the school grounds, especially those who could not afford to buy bottled water, which was the only option offered at the school currently.