BRIEF HISTORY:
In the fall of 1981, when the state of Antigua and Barbuda achieved full independent status, The Greater Rochester NY - Antigua & Barbuda Partners of the Americas was chartered. Established through the efforts of Willis Sprattling, Director of Corporate Public Affairs at Xerox and linked to Antigua and Barbuda by the National Partners of the Americas (NAPA), early projects of the chapter focused on public works, agriculture, community education, women in development and health issues.

Significant projects in the south have included, but are not limited to rebuilding the Holberton Hospital sewage treatment plant, a neonatal intensive care unit, a disaster/emergency preparedness program, a preventative dental health program including fluoride rinse, a self-reliance training program for women, youth sports programs, the historic preservation and restoration of the cane crushing mill at Betty's Hope, acquisition of a fully equipped ambulance and the establishment of a biennial Caribbean Health Conference at which heath care professionals from the Greater Rochester area and those of the island of Antigua address common health care and medical issues.

During the eighteen years of partnership, grants and contributions have supported the education and training of more than fifty Antiguans at such diverse Greater Rochester area institutions as: Edison Technological and Occupational Center, the Otetiana Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Threshold Center, Rochester Institute of Technology, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, St. John Fisher College, and the University of Rochester

Ongoing projects continue to address health care issues, programs for youth, book and educational material acquisition, municipal infrastructure issues, and issues of the environment.

In November 1999, a Cultural and Educational Exchange in the Performing Arts project brings artist from Antigua to Rochester New York. In conjunction with students at John Marshall High School, they will construct the musical pans of a steel drum orchestra. The project will conclude with a concert after which the pans will remain at John Marshall High School as part of a multicultural music program.