Indian community donates 300 fans to beat classroom heat
Published:Tuesday | September 12, 2023 | 12:10 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
MOVED BY the heat that students of Farm Primary and Infant School have been battling amid high temperatures, the Indian community in Jamaica will donate 300 wall-mounted fans to 70 schools.
The initiative, which will cost $1.8 million, will benefit schools such as Farm Primary and Infant School in St James, Woodhall Primary in Clarendon, and Grove Primary, Harbour View Primary, Benedict’s Primary and St Martin de Porres Primary in the Corporate Area.
Gul Mansukhani, managing director of Pavilion Jewellers and one of the organisers of the donation, initiated the effort.
“I was motivated to do this because of your article. While drinking my coffee, I saw a photograph of a child holding a drink bottle trying to cool himself down in the newspaper. It really moved me, so I quickly called it to my wife’s attention. Where I am from in India, we never had a situation like this. So I made contact with the business owners from the Indian community and we agreed we would do this,” Mansukhani shared.
He was referencing an article published on The Gleaner’s front page on Tuesday, September 5, which spoke about students from Farm Primary and Infant School in St James battling the heat, which forced a teacher to dip in her own pocket and buy a fan to keep her classroom cool.
While it was his initiative, he noted that other members of the Indian community quickly backed the initiative.
“It was my idea, but I got good support from the business group. I actually want to big them up more than anything, I don’t want to take all the credit,” Mansukhani told The Gleaner.
The Indian national made mention that he came to Jamaica with nothing and that the country has given him everything, so he wants to give back.
HAPPY WITH QUICK RESPONSE
Richard Miller, principal of Farm Primary and Infant School, told The Gleaner he was elated for the quick response.
“Since the article from The Gleaner came out about our challenges with the heat, we received calls the same day. We are happy for the quick action. This morning, we received a donation of 16 fans at Love Jewellers, from the Indian community of Jamaica. So we are grateful to them. This will now benefit us, as eight classrooms will now be cooler to beat the heat,” Miller said excitedly.
It was a sigh of relief and a joyful moment for teachers and students at the very sight of the fans being delivered to school.
Since the start of the 2023-24 school year on September 4, institutions across Jamaica have been grappling with finding strategic ways to deal with the high temperatures, which have been attributed to the effects of global climate change.
Haresh Khemlani, CEO of Royale Jewellers in Kingston, is another businessman from the India community who joined the initiative, and he says it was a wonderful feeling.
“Knowing how good the children are going to feel is a good experience to be a part of. I have been watching the news and I see the children going through such heat in schools. Nobody wants to see children going through so much heat in schools. Basically, they are our future generations,” Khemlani stated.
According to reports from some schools, students are unsettled because of the heat and some teachers have had to use their own money to purchase fans to make the teaching-and-learning process more tolerable in their classrooms, which are often poorly ventilated.
Angelin Downer, a grade-two teacher at Farm Primary and Infant School, said: “I was so excited when I saw the boxes with the fans. My classroom didn’t have any fans, so now it will receive at least one, so I am thankful. This will make the children less restless during the hot days.”