For Stauna Soanes, co-founder of the nonprofit organization Voicez United, supporting Wotton Waven Primary School in Dominica extends far beyond a simple act of charity. It is a deeply personal mission to repay the community that laid the foundation for her own life journey. This personal tie is the core of Ready to Rise: Dominica 2026, the first structured educational initiative launched by Voicez United in collaboration with the small Roseau Valley campus.
Per an official press announcement from the group, the program is built with two central goals: to equip local students with everything they need to hit the ground running when the new academic year begins, and to expand access to critical resources for both teaching staff and the broader school community that supports student growth. Currently, Wotton Waven Primary serves a student body of 22 children, led by a team of five classroom teachers, a school principal, and a National Education Plan mentor. All educational supplies for the initiative have been procured with space set aside to accommodate a modest projected increase in student enrollment in the coming term.
Shipping containers packed with the donated supplies have already completed their journey to Dominica and are scheduled to be handed over to the country’s Ministry of Education next week. After the materials are transferred to the school, Principal Langford-Morancie and her staff will sort and organize all items ahead of a formal distribution event planned for Friday, September 4—just three days before the first day of classes on September 7.
Soanes emphasized that the project holds profound personal meaning for her. She spent her own formative elementary years at Wotton Waven Primary, as did her brothers and sisters, and both of her parents previously served as educators at the institution. Her work giving back to the campus began in 2021, when she started making personal donations of school supplies on her own. Ready to Rise: Dominica 2026 transforms that small, individual effort into a coordinated, community-wide movement that brings together individual donors, volunteers, local businesses, media outlets, and community partners all aligned to expand educational access for the next generation.
“Giving back to the school and community that shaped who I am today is both a privilege and a promise I keep,” Soanes shared. “My goal is to invest in the next generation with the same hope and care that was once invested in me. I hope this work inspires others to contribute to their own local communities in the same way.”
Beyond backpacks, the initiative provides every student with essential learning tools including exercise notebooks, graphite pencils, sketch pads, crayons, colored markers, and rulers. For teaching staff, the donation includes lesson planners, specialty markers, highlighters, sticky notes, desk organization supplies, and materials to reward student achievement. Whole classrooms will also receive new art, craft, and instructional resources, ranging from construction paper and cardstock to tempera paint, craft sticks, decorative pom-poms, and math fraction learning tools.
In a move that expands support beyond the school walls, Ready to Rise will also stock the school community pantry with non-perishable staple foods: dried beans, rice, pasta, oatmeal, canned tuna, peanut butter, preserved vegetables, breakfast items, and basic cooking condiments. This holistic support addresses basic food security needs that can impact student ability to focus and thrive in the classroom, making the initiative a comprehensive investment in the whole well-being of the Wotton Waven Primary community.