The proposed construction of a therapeutic swimming pool for persons with disabilities by the Pilot Club of Nassau, and a facility for post school-aged persons with special needs by the government of The Bahamas on a nearby site on Gladstone Road, should provide the two entities with opportunities for mutual activities, according to Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin.
Officials from the ministry have been working with a special task force for more than a year now on the establishment of a facility for post school-aged persons with special needs. The task force is comprised of representatives from the Bahamas National Council for Disability; the Bahamas Down Syndrome Association; Eyes Wide Open; Hopedale Centre; Life Options and REACH.
Task force members have visited a number of regional and international countries to review their facilities and determine best practices in all areas for which the facility will be constructed. Members have also visited a number of local facilities to further assess needs.
One of the major goals of the facility will be to provide training and development; social, and work related skills that would allow for individuals to work in the community and in due course, and respite care for post school-aged persons with disabilities.
"For some time now, it has been the desire of the Pilot Club of Nassau to construct a pool for persons with disabilities and I attended the ground-breaking for this facility some years ago. This initiative is a laudable one and given the proximity of this facility to the pool you are proposing to construct, I fully expect that there will be opportunities for mutual activities," said Griffin.
She added that the government of The Bahamas has already provided a grant of Crown land for the construction of the pool to the Pilot Club of Nassau. A site on Gladstone Road has already been identified for the construction of the facility. Griffin said the first draft of the architectural drawings should be available for her review in short order. The minister said the construction of the facility is "very much a reality".
"The task force and its subcommittees have been diligently working in an effort to move full speed ahead to get this project done,"
Griffin also took the opportunity to thank the Pilot Club of Nassau for its contributions to the development of The Bahamas over the past forty years, adding that the organization has spent most of the past 40 years assisting the needy in The Bahamas through the sponsorship of seminars on health, safety and women's issues; volunteering for soup kitchens; providing services to persons living with disabilities; providing scholarships to deserving students and assisting residential care facilities that cater to children and the elderly.
"There can be few rewards greater than reminding the elderly or someone with a disability that someone cares for them and that they are worthy of love and attention, or assisting that bright, young person from an impoverished home to attain a good education so that they can achieve their full potential. The fact is that the Pilot Club of Nassau has been instrumental in spreading hope and happiness to the underprivileged for the past 40 years and for this you are to be commended because by doing so, you have brought happiness to many," Griffin noted.
According to her, happiness is a state that should not be underestimated. "Scientific studies that involve more than 20 years of research tells us that personal happiness leads to better relationships; that it makes people more productive and happy people live much longer lives.
"Those studies further show that happy people are more likely to seek peaceful solutions to conflict and are less likely to commit crime, and that happy countries generally have lower rates of crime and violence. I think that is something that we all want to happen here in The Bahamas."

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