Soon after I got my first degree, I received the opportunity to run a new preschool in Simpson Bay. The school grew from 3 students to 40, and it was hard leaving the island in 2001, to move to Saint Kitts with my husband. However, Saint Kitts did offer a number of great learning opportunities. It also exposed me to seeing how daycares were managed on a different island, with a lot more government support.

In 2008, I returned home to Sint Maarten to help take care of my mom. I founded Alexander’s, soon after. Alexander’s consists of two locations; one is a preschool that caters to children 0 – 4 years old. The other is an afterschool program for children up to 12 years old. In the preschool program, the teachers put a lot of emphasis on interactive and playful learning. We teach through songs, games, rhymes, and stories, using some modified methods of the ‘Highscope Curriculum’. Our afterschool program also incorporates a lot of activities such as tennis, track and field, swimming, and soccer. Children need that stimulation and playtime. It helps them learn better, stay focused longer, and be happy well-rounded individuals.

Foremost as an educator and mother I believe in the importance of creating a safe space for children to share their feelings and thoughts. Teaching children to openly and effectively communicate at a very young age, gives them a much better head start in life. I recommend listening to children without interrupting them, and also encouraging discussion amongst their peers. If they approach me with a problem, I first give them the chance to figure out the solution themselves. Children that grow up in environments that do not allow for self-expression are more likely to have low self-esteem and feel like they aren’t important. This can lead to many other related issues, even into adulthood. Unfortunately, not every child has the opportunity to go to a (good) preschool in Sint Maarten. This is one of the reasons I helped establish the Sint Maarten Early Childhood Development Association (SECDA).

SECDA is an umbrella organization of currently 21 daycare centres on the island. We advocate the importance of early childhood development. At the moment we provide workshops for staff at preschools, parents, and host team or family building events. Despite our efforts to push for more support for preschools, there has been no improvement in consistent financial support available to us.

Preschools on Sint Maarten do not have access to government subsidies. This means that preschools have to survive on the fees that they collect for their students from parents. This means that if a parent, for example from a low-income household, cannot pay, the child does not have access to the education system until they are old enough to go to Kindergarten.

In practice, many of our preschools try to give discounts or sponsor children whose parents cannot pay. But this means that the preschools are paying for these children out of their own pocket. Preschools are not a ‘rich’ business and since hurricane Irma, and now the pandemic, a number of schools have had to close their doors.

In Saint Kitts or Anguilla for example, preschools are subsidized. Parents, who can pay, pay a fee and parents who have a low-income pay less, or do not have to pay at all. On Sint Maarten, low-income families do not have this support for their children. This means that some children cannot go to preschool, or that some preschools are forced to take on too many children to pay the cost of running the school. The latter comes at a cost to the quality of the education and results in overworked teachers.

This gap of proper early childhood development during the first 4 years of a child’s life will often result in long-term setbacks, even into adulthood. Good early childhood development programs provide a solid foundation for the social, academic and behavioral skills that children need for their future learning. Personally, I think it would be a lot cheaper for our Government to subsidize preschools, than to fix all the issues resulting from the current lack of proper early childcare and education.

The right to a proper education is a right every child has. However, this right is not available to every child on Sint Maarten between 0 to 4 years old. I hope that with more awareness about this issue, the much-needed financial support will become available in the early childhood development sector.”

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“We have to offer support and opportunities for the youth to help them become contributing members of society. On Sint Maarten, poverty-related issues and a lack of preventative education, programs, and facilities contribute heavily to youth delinquency and other crimes,” explains Geert Steeghs, the Public Prosecutor for the Youth and Morals Division at the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Seated next to him are Brenda Koek, Policy Advisor and Marushka Kortram, Legal Advisor, who also work on cases with youth victims or defendants. Brenda works on cases involving domestic violence too. “We contribute to protecting children’s rights by prosecuting cases where the children’s rights are violated in a criminal sense. We also try to help protect the rights of suspects or offenders who are minors.”

Brenda Koek, Marushka Kortram and Geert Steeghs

“Minors have more substantial rights than adult defendants. For example, a suspect who is a minor must have legal representation present during questioning. Pre-trial detention is an exception to the rule. This applies even more to minors. Pre-trial detention is only applied as a last resort. Another difference is that trials involving minors under sixteen are dealt with behind closed doors (no public or media can be present). Also, sentences are lower. Juvenile detention is maximized at 1, 2, or 4 years depending on the crime. Community service or other conditions instead of detention time are considered more carefully.

At the moment, we have the Miss Lalie Center, which is a youth detention centre for male offenders under 21 years old. This has better rehabilitation options than the prison, although many improvements could be made. At the moment, we do not have a facility like this to hold female youth offenders. This poses a problem if a female who is a minor is involved in a serious crime. There is also a crucial gap in resources to detain and rehabilitate minors involved in less serious crimes.”

“There is an increase in the frequency and scale of the crimes that are committed by minors. For example, over the past years, we have seen a spike in youth violence, such as fights in and around schools. These can get particularly violent, and on top of that, others cheer it on and share it on social media such as Facebook. This has been a concern in the community for a while. We feel that many of these crimes can be prevented with the right resources.

Programs and facilities to support at-risk youth are severely lacking. We notice that although there are many reports and research available, the actual implementation of prevention programs is not followed through.

We sometimes see minors or adolescents commit serious violent crimes such as (attempted) manslaughter or armed robberies, who have been known by the court of guardianship, schools, police or other community organizations for years. In a sense they were accidents waiting to happen. Earlier and more structural interventions could have prevented at least some of these incidents.”

“Corporal punishment falls under the maltreatment law of Sint Maarten. If someone hits you and you experience any level of pain, this can be seen as maltreatment. This means that corporal punishment is also prohibited in all settings, including the home. So yes, we have a powerful law against corporal punishment. Corporal punishment, which is physical abuse, is a huge issue, and it is entrenched in some parts of society and through intergenerational transfer. In practice, on Sint Maarten, only extreme cases of physical abuse are prosecuted.”

“Unfortunately, the abuse is often not reported. At times reported crimes such as abuse could also be viewed by the law as a “he said – she said” situation without enough supporting evidence. In some cases, people who filed a report retract their statement later and become unwilling to continue with the case. This happens because the people involved are also dependent on their abuser. The victim might be scared as well, as there are too few options currently available to protect the victim. Similarly, witnesses might be unwilling to provide statements.

Another issue we face is that people can easily cross the border to the French Side or to another country. We have to first request a transfer of the case to French Authorities. Sint Maarten often does not have the appropriate extradition treaties with countries, notably some surrounding islands such as St. Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, etc., to extradite a person legally. At times, the victim only feels safe enough to file an official report once the abuser has moved off the island. We have cases of girls of 6, 8 and 9 years old that were abused by extended family members who have fled the island. You are not going to find them.”

“Again, education and prevention are vital in preventing crimes and encouraging people to report more quickly, accurately, and frequently. The low socioeconomic status of people, which contribute to dependency on a victim’s abuser, are much more challenging to solve. Until those are resolved, our country should provide more access to facilities such as Safe Haven. Extradition treaties with more countries, especially surrounding islands, should also be looked at.

A better ‘flagging system’ to stop people from leaving the island could also be developed; however, there are other means to quickly ‘flee’ as well, such as by boat. It is important to note that we can still go ahead with the trial proceedings even if the defendant does not show up for trial or is in another country. If found guilty, the offender’s sentence will be enforced once he or she returns and is arrested on Sint Maarten.”

“Historically, the Prosecutor and Police Department focuses on investigating the crime and punishing the offender. Victims got far less attention. Informing the victim on the status of the investigation and the rights during the trial can avoid disappointment, frustration or unmet expectations and help in dealing with grief and anger. To improve on this, we set up a victim support division last year. The goal is to keep victims better and more proactively updated on their case, manage expectations, and give them more opportunities to express their opinions related to their case. We also prepared a ‘victim support’ handbook for everyone in our office to follow. Victim’s rights and enhancing the role of the victim still needs to be addressed further however, in all organizations involved.”

Under European law, every suspect is allowed to wait for his verdict in freedom. By law, we cannot place a person in pre-trial detention without sufficient proof that he or she is a danger to the community. In addition, pre-trial detention is also hard to enforce due to the lack of space in prison. When, for example, a male is accused of inappropriately touching a minor, and he denies all charges and has no criminal history on record, we do not have enough law-based reasons to hold him in pre-trial detention before the case is presented in court. When a male is accused of inappropriately touching a young boy and has a history of sexual assault and has been charged, we would place the defendant in pre-trial detention.”

“Under Sint Maarten law, the victim and defendant have fewer rights than Dutch law. For example, the victim’s rights to speak in court or the right for a defendant to have a lawyer present, are more limited. (However, The Supreme Court, which operates under Dutch Law, is less restricted. The judge does often consider this as well in court proceedings.)

To improve particular victim and defendant rights under Sint Maarten Law, we have a new (draft) procedural criminal law policy that needs to be reviewed and hopefully adopted by Parliament. The law improves the criminal process in many ways including more rights to victims and access to a lawyer for minors. However, the draft law has not yet been approved by the Parliament.

We should consider looking into best practices when it comes to protecting children and families from crimes such as abuse. For example, in The Netherlands, mayors may impose a ten-day restraining order for (imminent) domestic violence or (serious suspicion of) child abuse. Depending on the situation, the mayor can extend the temporary restraining order up to a maximum of four weeks. This allows the victim(s) more room and safety to make needed arrangements.”

“So much can be done, but let’s start with:

• That our new procedural criminal law policy is reviewed and approved by Parliament.
• That the Miss Lalie Center (or other detention facilities) does not just function as a detention centre but provides more access to rehabilitation programs and facilities for youth offenders, male and female alike.
• That collaborations are actively established to start implementing preventative and educational measures to prevent youth crimes.
• That our justice system, including our office, more proactively communicates with victims allowing them to feel better supported and prepared. Our victim support division that was established last year is a good first step.

Currently, our country only focuses on the rigid prison system, and we believe this will solve our crime issues. However, once a person ends up in prison, you have ‘lost’ already – the crime has been committed, and chances of successful rehabilitation into society are slim. There are children on our island that come from broken homes, experience a lack of support and violence in their community, a lack of social services such as appropriate schooling, foster care options, and psychological help. This may contribute to the cause of youth crime.

Social change needs to happen, and yes, punishment is part of it, but the prison does not have enough capacity, nor is it the most effective way to eradicate abuse and other crimes. We need to become a society that cares for its people and our vulnerable groups, such as at-risk youth. Only then will you see a significant change in numbers of children who become victims or offenders.”

“We all want to be treated with respect and dignity. For persons with disabilities, this is no different,” states Mimi Hodge, who is the department head at the Sister Basilia Center (SBC). The SBC, founded in August 1984, is a department within the White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation. The department provides a Day Activity Center, Night Care and Guided Living, which caters to those with cognitive disabilities.

The vision of the SBC is that “every individual with a disability should be treated with dignity and equality and should be given the opportunity to develop to their full potential.” To reach this goal, the SBC has a full team with group leaders, doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, speech therapists, and physical therapists. Mimi: “The group leaders are integral to the work that we do. They spend the most time with our clients and help keep them on track.”

Eridania Millers is one of those group leaders. She works with some of the centre’s younger clients. “I hope that our community becomes more accepting of people with disabilities. This also means learning how to include them in our society more actively”. Of its 70 clients, the SBC caters to 36 children, with the youngest being four years old.

Eridania: “A safe environment, education, protection from violence, freedom of expression, right to privacy, social inclusion, and the list goes on!”

Eridania: “In my group, I have seven clients between 14 and 21 years old with a range of cognitive impairments, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome. For example, our client with cerebral palsy is wheelchair-bound and cannot move physically. However, you can see that she actively participates with her eyes. Others can't speak but have their unique way of communicating. It is all about creating a bond and working on skills together.”

Eridania: “Our Daily Activity Center runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We have a wide range of skills that we teach, all planned according to each individual’s ‘care plan’ and personal goals. We want them to be as independent as possible and teach life skills such as cooking, washing, folding, self-help and also academic, exercise, sensory, and communication skills.”

Mimi: “The SBC is a facility for children with (severe) cognitive impairments. We have a testing process that our clients go through to see if they ‘fit’ in with us. There are also children with disabilities that fit into a special education setting, such as at the  Prins Willem Alexander or Excellence Learning Academy. Or there are also children with disabilities that can attend regular school.

The latter can be difficult due to a lack of policies within schools to help include children with disabilities. There are also children that ‘fall through the cracks’ either because they don’t have legal paperwork, or their guardians don’t take the needed steps to enrol them.”

Sports day Sister Basilia Center

Mimi: “We are the only facility that provides fulltime care for children with (severe) cognitive impairments. They would otherwise not be able to get the proper care they need. It likely means that their family would have a tough time taking care of them, resulting in a highly stressful situation for both the child and parents. This can also result in neglect or other abuse.”

Mimi: “They are more easily manipulated due to their lower IQ or physical impairments. It can be harder for them to figure out what is right and wrong for those around them or themselves. This makes it easier to be preyed on.”

Mimi: “That they need to be treated differently. However, their needs are pretty much the same as other children. They need consistency and love from their parents/guardians. They go to school, have to eat their vegetables, exercise daily, and have consequences if they misbehave.”

Eridania: “Often, people think they cannot perform tasks independently, resulting in people doing everything for them. However, they can learn to do chores, and they can express what they want and what they like – you just have to listen a bit differently at times.”

Eridania: “Children with disabilities have the right, as all other children, to express their opinion and wants. However, some of my clients cannot talk. We work together to figure out how to communicate better. For example, one of my clients uses pictograms (cards with pictures) to communicate.”

Mimi: “Feelings can also be expressed in various ways. When our clients are happy, they might smile at you, hold your hand, or call out to you with a loud sound. You have to get to know the person, which is valid for everyone.”

Eridania: “One of my youngsters did not come to our centre for a long time due to the pandemic. To encourage him to join us again, I did a home visit. I had not realized how complicated his home situation is. His parents are trying their best, but they don't have many resources. I became more aware of how vital the SBC is. We also have a food pantry, workshops, and ambulant worker that does home visits to support families. Our clients look forward to joining us. We provide a safe space, which some clients don’t have.”

Mimi & Eridania: “PATIENCE! And lots of love.”

Mimi: “Some of the laws and policies need to be adapted to be more inclusive of persons with disabilities. This should also make it possible and easier for children who are cognitively able but have physical impairments to go to regular school. At the moment, due to conflicting school policies, this can be difficult.”

Eridania: “Awareness campaigns to increase the knowledge of the public about people living with disabilities. There should also be more financial support for those that have (or take care of a person with) a disability.”

Mimi: “General acceptance of our clients in the community. At the moment, we struggle with finding employers willing to employ our clients. Some of our clients can work and want to be productive members of our community.”

Eridania: “It would also be nice to see more places that are wheelchair friendly and people being more inclusive of those with disabilities by considering them in public events. A smile and empathy are nice, but active participation with and the inclusion of our clients is what they really need.”

Mimi: “People come in all different colours, shapes and sizes. We all should have equal rights. Persons with disabilities did not ask to be in the position they are in. They deserve respect and to be given the same opportunities as others in our society. As a community, and with your help, we can help make this happen!”