St Anthony’s College marked a historic milestone with the unveiling of a peace pole on campus, symbolising the institution’s continued commitment to unity, respect, and global harmony.
The initiative was a joint collaboration between the Port of Spain Rotary Club and the school.
District Governor for Rotary District 7030, Soraya Warner-Gustave, said the peace pole is intended to inspire peace, unity, and goodwill not only throughout the college but also across the world.
“We are building an army of peace builders. That’s how I like to think of them. What we are creating is young persons focused on service, focused on peace, focused on integrity, focused on ethical leadership, and that is the importance of the peace pole.”
The peace pole is inscribed with the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages. According to President of the Rotary Club of Port of Spain, Anne-Marie Lall, this reflects the diverse communities and cultures united in their commitment to promoting peace.
“We have one thing in common, which is to have peace, and we have made peace prevail on Earth in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. The reason we chose those other languages is because we teach Spanish and French, so the majority of our school population speaks those two languages, and we have a lot of Muslims in our school, hence we put the Arabic.”
Service Project Chair and representative of the Rotary Club of Port of Spain, Richard Thomas, noted that the erection of the peace pole is part of a broader initiative focused on community development.
“We look at a whole range of things: we look at the environment, we look at education, we look at social initiatives, we look at the community, and we have a budget every year that would cover all these items.”
President of the Interact Club at St. Anthony’s College, Shayanah Jones, summed up the message of peace.
“Peace takes over everything. Always be peaceful, always be peaceful in our actions and everything we do.”