THE INFORMER INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE ISLAND GOVERNMENT OF ST. EUSTATIUS Volume 1, Issue 6 FEBRUARY ISSUE , 2010 COMMUNICATION, THE THEME AT THE GOLDEN ROCK SCHOOL Field trip to the Government information Service to their pupils so that they would get a clear understand- ing of sending and receiving correspondence through the post office. The children were welcomed by the staff of the post office and received de- tailed information how the process works. (photos of the various sights are available on page 8). The children of Cycle 1 group 1 and 2 visited the Government Information Service. They got first hand experience on the Shedding Light Radio programme at the Statia Radio Station. The chief of the G.I.S. Inside this issue: Fieldtrip by Golden Rock School 1,8,12 Health Care issues 2+14 The Golden Rock School held the the GIS the activities undertaken Dualism 4-7 theme communication for one by the youngsters at school. month. During this period the chil- They talked elaborately about dren went on a number of fieldtrips communication, what it means, Winair 5 to the local telephone company, how important it is and the dif- the post office and the office and ferent form of medium used to studio of the Government Informa- communicate. This discussion Dutch Inspectorate on Fact 11 tion Service. In an interview with has taken place in all the class Finding Mission in Statia the principal of the Golden Rock rooms. The children wrote letters Dutch Government donates 9 +13 school, Mrs. Deborah Clarke Brown to each other and visited the school Books to Primary schools we learned that it is customary at post office to experience the the Golden Rock School to have a process of mailing a letter. The Fotos of events 8,10, monthly theme. She explained to teachers of Cycle one sent letters 12 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 THE INFORMER PAGE 2 POSTMENOPAUSAL BLEEDING Monthly Health updates with Dr. Sharda Baboe-Kalpoe. In our regular interview for During perimenopause, changes in menstrual bleeding are common. this newsletter, Dr. Sharda Baboe-Kalpoe acknowledged During a normal menstrual cycle, the levels of the hormones estrogen the importance of educating and progesterone increase and the community on medical decrease in a regular pattern . Ovu- lation occurs in the middle of the issues that are affecting this cycle, and menstruation occurs community. She choose fe- about 2 weeks later. During peri- menopause, hormone levels may not male health because it is an follow this regular pattern. As a important health care issue. result, you may have irregular The topic for this month is Post- bleeding or spotting. Some months, your period may be longer and menopausal Bleeding. The first heavier. Other months, it may be question that comes to mind is shorter and lighter. The number of ductive system. Bleeding from the va- days between periods may increase What is Post Menopausal Bleed- gina may occur because when estrogen or decrease. You may begin to skip secretion stops, the vagina dries out ing? Definition periods. and can diminish (atrophy). This is the most common cause of bleeding from Postmenopausal bleeding is bleed- Although these changes are normal the lower reproductive tract. ing from the reproductive system in perimenopause, abnormal bleed- ing sometimes can signal a problem that occurs six months or more after Lesions and cracks on the vulva may not related to perimenopause. A menstrual periods have stopped due also bleed. Sometimes bleeding occurs good rule to follow is to tell your after intercourse. Bleeding can occur to menopause. doctor if you notice any of the fol- with or without an associated infection. lowing changes in your monthly Description cycle: Bleeding from the upper reproductive Menopause, the end of ovulation system can be caused by: and menstrual periods, naturally • Very heavy bleeding occurs for most women at age 45–55 • hormone replacements years. The process of ending ovula- • Bleeding that lasts longer than tion and menstruation normal • endometrial cancer (perimenopause) is gradual, span- ning one to two years or more, due • Bleeding that occurs more often • endometrial polyps to shifts in hormone levels. than every 3 weeks • cervical cancer Postmenopausal bleeding is • Bleeding that occurs after sex bleeding that occurs after meno- or between periods • cervical lesions pause has been established for at least six months. It is different from Women taking estrogen (called hor- • uterine tumors infrequent, irregular periods mone replacement therapy or (oligomenorrhea) that occur around HRT) are more likely to experience • ovarian cancer the time of menopause. postmenopausal bleeding. So are obese women, because fat cells Many women experience some post- • estrogen-secreting tumors in other transform male hormones menopausal bleeding. However, parts of the body (androgens) secreted by the adrenal postmenopausal bleeding is not gland into estrogen. The most common cause of postmeno- normal. Because it can be a symp- pausal bleeding is HRT. The estrogen tom of a serious medical condition, Causes and symptoms in the replacement therapy eases the any episode of postmenopausal symptoms of menopause (like hot bleeding should be brought to the flashes), and decreases the risk of os- Postmenopausal bleeding can origi- attention of a (woman's) doctor. teoporosis. (continue on page 14) nate in different parts of the repro- VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 THE INFORMER PAGE 3 Peter van Dongen bids farewell focused specifically on the job ranking process. This process is ongoing for 12 years, but on November 30th 2009 the Executive Council of St. Eustatius made a decision on this process. Mr. Van Dongen was the Chair of the Ob- jection Committee. In this period De- partment Heads created a department plan. A trainings programme for 2010 has been approved of which the initial trainings are presently conducted. In Mr. Peter van Dongen came to St. cooperation with the Personnel and Eustatius in September 2009 to as- Organization Mr. van Dongen assisted sist Mr. Willem Sanderse for a half with the establishment of a Quick Scan year in several areas in the transi- for departments like Public Health and tion of Statia for 10/10/10. This sup- physical Planning and Development. VNG delegation with a few Depart- port is in the best interest of the He supported the management team ment Heads Executive Council, the Island Secre- with important topics. Presently a pro- tary and the Civil Servants. Al- ject is underway to get a person to full VNG administration paid a visit to though this was his first trip to the position of Head of Economic Af- St. Eustatius and met with a num- Statia, he is familiar with Curacao fairs. He was able to give the assign- ber of civil servants. They ex- and Bonaire since he resided in ment to the committee for garbage plained about the opportunities for Aruba in the past. process to create a tangible plan. He is civil servants to do training in the happy to have been able to contribute Netherlands and for Dutch experts He worked with pleasure with the towards all these plans that will benefit to come to the islands. This pro- civil servants and accomplished set the Government of St. Eustatius. Special gramme if fully financed by the goals with the necessary humor. He thanks for everyone's cooperation. The VNG. (Continued from page 1) Field trip to the Government Information Service (Government Information Ser- sters brought it simple in their children while they visited the vice), Head Mrs. Malvern own words it was crystal clear different offices within the De- Dijkshoorn-Lopes was happy to that they had worked at school on partment of GIS. introduce the future leaders to this theme because they were the community through the ra- knowledge able of the subject. dio programme. The children After the radio interview they vis- talked on the radio about the ited the office and studio of GIS theme communication. Most of where they gathered additional them were familiar with the dif- information on the subject. The ferent methods used like chat- camera men, Mr. Michael Spanner ting on the computer, talking and Dwight Barran translated by phone, using the newspaper, their work on the level of the radio, television, sign language, youngsters so that they under- one on one talks while playing, stand what their job entailed. Mrs. and they went on to explain Mercedes Lopes-Spanner shared why it’s important to be able to with the children the importance have clear communication. of having good manners and be- They expressed the importance ing ambassadors for their island. of the receiver understanding She explained her field of work the message sent by the and was assisted by Ms. Nadjeska sender. Although the young- Jack who took photos of all the VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 THE INFORMER PAGE 4 THE DUTCH ASSOCIATION FOR MUNICIPALITIES (VNG) GIVES WORKSHOP ON DUALISM the floor were: What does dualism mean for civil servants, or what effect will it have for civil servants? What does one wish to accomplish with the implementa- tion of dualism? Will the island govern- ment be able to make adjustments in areas where dualism does not benefit the island when looking at the scale and population? How was the implementation of Dualism experienced in small munici- palities in the Netherlands? Mr Schoop explained that Dualism should strengthen the position of the island council and the council should operate more as a Representative of the people. When dualism is implemented we will have three official functions: Griffier; Ombudsman and a Government audit office. To clearly understand the Dualism concept, we first need to know the cause for its introduction.