Nearly six months after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa carved a path of destruction across western Jamaica’s parishes, school leaders from storm-ravaged communities gathered Tuesday at the National Education Trust (NET) headquarters in St Andrew to receive a life-changing donation: 20 portable dual-fuel generators provided through a collaborative partnership between NET and the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Foundation.
For educators and students still picking up the pieces of their learning environments after the devastating storm, the new power sources are far more than emergency equipment. They represent a critical step toward restoring normalcy, renewing hope, and securing stable, functional learning spaces for thousands of children displaced by the hurricane.
Ryan Stone, acting principal of St Elizabeth’s Mulgrave Primary School, one of the beneficiary institutions, called the donation transformative. His campus suffered catastrophic damage when Hurricane Melissa’s high winds ripped off large sections of the school’s roof, destroyed furniture and learning materials, knocked down perimeter fencing, and fried the campus’s entire electrical system. While the school has partially reopened, students have continued to grapple with lingering trauma, requiring ongoing psychosocial support from visiting psychologists, guidance counselors from neighboring schools, and specialists from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.
Stone recounted that some students have described the storm as “wicked” or “gluttonous,” with one young student telling counselors, “She ate up everything.” A recent cold front bringing heavy winds even triggered widespread re-traumatization, forcing school leaders to call in additional support teams. Against this backdrop, Stone said the generator donation is a much-needed boost to the school’s long recovery process.
“ The generator represents more than just power — it symbolises hope, resilience and a renewed opportunity for our students to learn in a safe and stable environment,” Stone told the Jamaica Observer on the sidelines of Tuesday’s handover ceremony.
Victoria Gooden-Green, vice-principal of Darliston Primary School in Westmoreland, echoed that gratitude, outlining the daily struggles her staff and students have faced since the storm destroyed their school’s roof. Currently, classes for the campus’s most vulnerable group, grade six students preparing for national exams, are held in two temporary tents donated by UNICEF — and not all students can attend in-person classes daily. Without consistent power, the school has also been unable to support digital learning activities that have become a core part of modern education, from streaming educational content to charging student devices.
“Having the generators, that will help us immensely to do what we have to do,” Gooden-Green said, noting that many students lost everything when the storm hit their homes and communities, and continue to live with the lingering emotional impact of the disaster. “It’s not an easy time for us but we know that the toughest soldiers get the strongest fight. We will bounce back because we are resilient, and no matter how dark it seems, the sun will shine again.”
The Generator Donation Initiative was launched in direct response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in October 2023. In the aftermath of the storm, NET reached out to the MSC Foundation to mobilize support for the hardest-hit education institutions, and the partnership ultimately resulted in 20 15,000-watt DuroMax dual-fuel generators being procured for the affected schools.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Jamaica’s State Minister for Tourism Tova Hamilton praised the cross-sector collaboration, framing the donation as a model for community-focused recovery. She emphasized that public-private partnerships like this one deliver tangible benefits to communities through targeted educational support, infrastructure investment, and capacity building that strengthens national resilience.
“We see today not as the end of a gesture but as the opening of a door — a door to stronger partnership, deeper engagement, and shared growth,” Hamilton said. “On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I express sincere appreciation to MSC Foundation and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Jamaica Limited for this meaningful intervention. This is a demonstration that tourism at its best is a force for national development, strengthening communities, supporting education and building resilience. Jamaica is grateful, Jamaica remembers, and Jamaica looks forward to even stronger partnership in the months and years ahead.”