HRH Prince Harry Visits With Rotarians In St. Lucia

 

The Royal visit focused on environmental matters with specific focus on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s “Canopy Challenge”.

 

The project was announced by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in November 2015. It was established to mark Her Majesty’s long reign and dedication to the Commonwealth. 

 

Saint Lucia was one of the first and few countries that achieved the goal of planting 10,000 trees. This was to a large extent accomplished in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Saint Lucia who has an ongoing tree planting project.

 

One highlight of the Royal visit for the family of Rotary was the meeting with HRH Prince Harry in a question and answer session where one of our Interactors from Saint Joseph’s Convent had an opportunity to be part of the private question and answer meeting.

 

The second was a small exhibition where the family of Rotary had a display with local trees including Mahogany, Cinnamon, Teak, Neem, Gaiac, Flamboyant, White Cedar, Mauby, Gmelina and Capeche. All are trees usually planted during our reforestation activities. There was an opportunity to expand on our work and engage Prince Harry in conversation about our activities, the specific values and uses of these trees and the importance of high profile people championing such initiatives. All got a good laugh out of it when HRH, after initial hesitation shared a glass of Mauby with the group and chuckled “did I just drink a tree”.

 

 

AG Konrad said that this was a special opportunity when some of our young leaders were recognized for the work they do in their development as young leaders and in support of the ideals of Rotary for the betterment of the communities we live in.