Willemstad – Today at the Ancilla Domini VSBO school the project started last year in the context of the Week of Money 2017 was rounded off with the official introduction of the brass band instruments. Minister of Education mrs. Marilyn Alcala-Wallé and CBCS interim president mrs. Leila Matroos-Lasten, mrs. Jurenne Hay of the Urgency program and mrs. Suella de Wind of BDO had the honor to officially use the brass band instruments with a stroke on the drum.
Financial education is part of the strategic goals of the CBCS as the Bank attaches great importance to the financial self-reliance of the community and as a result, a contribution is made to the fight against poverty in the countries of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The project of the Ancilla Domini VSBO school included the purchase of instruments for a private brass band. Together with employees of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) and BDO Dutch Caribbean (BDO) they have learned a budget last year and have started to raise funds for this project. They have learned to carry out a price / quality research after which they were able to procure the instruments and establish their own brass band.
From the Netherlands, the school in this project was also supported by the students of the Orion College in Amsterdam. Pupils from Orion College have also made fundraising for the instruments. The school in the Netherlands was assisted by the Cash Money Budget (CMB) team of the Foundation for Social Services Amsterdam (MaDi).
It is the MaDi Foundation, in the person of its former director-director Jurenne Hooi, who introduced the Week of Money in 2016 on Curaçao. From Curaçao the project is supported by BDO and the CBCS. Jurenne Hooi is currently involved in the Urgency Program from the government in the context of poverty reduction and improvement of the quality of life in four neighborhoods of Curaçao.
The Week of Money is a project that is organized every year in the Netherlands and to which all primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands can participate. Financial professionals provide free guest lessons and workshops at the various schools on request. In addition, free teaching materials are made available for use during the lesson. By helping children to deal with money from a young age, the foundation is laid for financial self-reliance in adulthood.
In the context of its strategic goals, the CBCS intends to organize the Week of Money together with mrs. Jurenne Hay, in the four neighborhoods of the Urgency program, being Barber, Otrobanda, Montagne and Buena Vista, to continue working. The aim is to offer all primary and secondary schools in both Curaçao and Sint Maarten the opportunity to participate in this project in the future.