Kiwanis International

Kiwanis is the champion for children. It was founded in 1915 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Kiwanis International is a thriving organisation of service and community minded men and women who support children and young adults worldwide. The organisation comprises of more than 13,000 Kiwanis Clubs with over 600,000 members in more than 89 countries who make their mark by responding to the needs of their communities truly” Serving the Children of the world”

Kiwanis also plays a special role in developing future generations of leaders. K.Kids clubs at primary school level, Builders clubs and Key Clubs in secondary schools and circle K clubs at the tertiary levels that teach community service and leadership skills to young people worldwide. The entire Kiwanis family is committed to eliminating the devastating effects of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD), the world’s leading preventable cause of mental retardation. Through Kiwanis’ efforts, many parents who have been affected by IDD are able to watch their children reach their full potential. The results of the IDD programme have benefit generations.

A typical Kiwanis club is a snapshot of its community, with members from all walks of life and at every step of the career ladder. They are unified in their belief that children and their communities benefit from the efforts of a proficient group of caring and involved volunteers.

Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District

The Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District is one of 50 Districts and the largest geographic district of Kiwanis International. It comprises of 28 Divisions, 350 clubs and 20,000 adult and youth members. The District serves the communities in Eastern Canada and the following Caribbean Countries: Bahamas, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Suriname, French Guiana, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, Guyana, St-Kitts and Haiti. The EC&C District is entering the second year of a three year campaign to raise CDN$1,000,000 to help UNICEF combat HIV/Aids in the Caribbean.

Service Leadership Programme

The Kiwanis Club of B’dos South currently sponsors five key and six k-kids clubs. Key clubs are designed to teach high school students about the value of community service. The lessons of leadership and self-development are introduced through learning to plan, setting goals, working with others, and celebrating successes. Many Key clubbers go on to leadership positions in the key club and assume leadership roles in other organisations.

According to Ikwo Morris Vice president of Key Club International 2010-2011, being a Key clubber is a great opportunity for any student who wants to develop leadership skills. Just returning from Memphis Tennessee, Ikwo captured the Vice President of Key club International title. A key clubber of two years at Harrison College and past governor of Caribbean Atlantic District said her focus would be on communication, growth and retention. She is interested in introducing interpal to the key clubs in Barbados where a site - Keypals would operate similar to a pen pal system. In her role as vice-president of Key Club International, the Guyanese born is responsible for 250,000 members all over the world, in 5000 clubs in 30 countries from Canada to New Zealand to Taiwan. In an effort to address the issue of retaining members, she hopes to initiate Skype to assist in the integration of different countries and tighten the ties between the districts. Recent activities in which she has been involved includes the planting of 100 trees at Barclays Park, several beach clean-up activities, visits to the elderly and the donation of books to children. One of her favourite club activities is the Adopt A Grandparent initiative, in which members visit the elderly every Monday evening.

K-Kids on the other hand, provide younger children an opportunity to develop themselves as they serve their community with their parents, Kiwanis members and sometimes Key Club or Builders Club members. Through K-Kids children lay down a solid foundation of moral values upon which they can build a lifetime of good character. They experience the excitement of learning that can make a difference in their world.

Young children benefit when they serve others and the community benefits when young children serve. If your child is always looking out for others, or if you'd like to introduce your child to community service, consider K-Kids.

Kiwanis Read Around the World

Every child should experience the joy of reading. Kiwanis members believe this, and have been dedicated to Kiwanis 'Read around the World' program. Kiwanis' Read around the World program focuses on sharing the joy of books with young children—from reading with them to providing books they can have of their very own. The Kiwanis club of B’dos South facilitates this programme each year at the schools with K-Kids clubs.

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