Goals of a healthy future for the Playa Linda Beach Resort as well as its employees once again received emphasis during Green Week. For the 20th consecutive year, the resort recently organized an annual, week-long program of activities and lectures intended to involve employees and educate on best practices for real life improvements.
Participation was high among all resort departments, and everyone proved motivated to make use of team building activities. Organized lectures offered valuable information provided by varied speakers including Dr. John Croes who spoke on general health and how to take control of one’s own well-being, speakers from EndTime, a representative from Kok Optica who emphasized the importance of taking care of one’s vision and also, trailblazer Lily Prins, from Wilhelmina Kankerfonds (WKF), who spoke about cancer prevention, in particular of breast cancer and prostate cancer. Lilly Prins, a pioneer in raising awareness and of dispelling taboos, continues to promote the importance of being proactive by scheduling regular check-ups and acting before symptoms appear.
Many of the speakers spoke to specific Aruba circumstances, such as in taking advantage of the good weather and access to the sea in seeking to exercise as well as using measures that protect eyes and skin from the powerful sun, but also of the universals in finding balance between work life and home life.
Spearheading efforts and organizing another informative Green Week is the Resort’s Green Team, headed by Housekeeping Assistant Manager Nigaima ‘Nigy’ Ascencion. “Green Week was a total success, well attended and with a lot of questions asked by employees,” she remarks. “We always choose topical subjects which are relevant to our community.”
Playa Linda has a long history with seeking better ways to create healthier environments for its guests as well as its employees. The resort early on sought environmental certification and was the first hotel in Palm Beach to implement ISO-14001, and continues to meet ongoing, environmental management standards. Green Week provides another opportunity for the resort in promoting a healthy work environment as well as in fostering a supportive network among employees.
Nigy spoke again at this year’s Green Week presentations and emphasized the central goal behind team efforts as seeking a holistic approach that goes beyond clean-ups and recycling efforts, and show how interrelated we are to each other as well as our environment. “We have the power to create a more healthy, sustainable environment for ourselves for long term goals. The investment in green efforts and healthy attitudes come back to us ten fold,” she concludes.
