Team Antigua Island Girls Overjoyed After EC$20K Pledge from PM Browne Helped Surpass US25K Target

 Team Antigua Island Girls is determined to keep working towards their objective of helping underprivileged young girls in Antigua and Barbuda.

This determination follows Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s promise to contribute EC$20,000 to their charitable goal, which will exceed their original target of US$25,000.

The team wants to help create a home for girls in conflict with the law.

“We are incredibly grateful; again [it was] a surprise, a very happy surprise, and our effort of supporting girls in Antigua and Barbuda is not going to stop here. We just encourage people to continue to give, and meeting our fundraising goal is just one step. If it is a home, it needs to be funded continuously as well so this is a continuous effort on our part” Christal Clashing said

She is one of the trios who just completed, a 2,800-nautical mile Pacific Ocean row.

During a homecoming ceremony for female athletes on Tuesday, Prime Minister Browne announced that he and his wife, Minister Maria Browne, will be donating funds to honor these courageous individuals.

The Cabinet is currently considering additional measures to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of these individuals.

“We are all proud of you, and the Cabinet has decided some special things for you; I know for sure you will be honored this Independence and we are also discussing making you tourism ambassadors,”.

He also said that the government would lend its full support to the team’s cause.

Meanwhile, Colin James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, expressed that the team has been successful in raising the profile of Antigua and Barbuda.

In January 2019, the team made history as the first all-Black team in the world to row an ocean and complete the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Their accomplishment has put Antigua and Barbuda on the map and showcased the nation’s ability to produce exceptional leaders with the determination to take on significant challenges.

James commended the team’s caliber of character and fortitude in completing not just one, but two oceans.

And in what has been described as an extraordinary feat of courage and determination, the athletes; Christal Clashing, Kevinia Francis, and Samara Emmanuel spend forty-one days at sea for the inaugural 2023 Pacific Challenge

Rowing at a distance of approximately 2,800 nautical miles across the Pacific, in ‘the world’s toughest row’, their journey began in Monterey Bay, California, and culminated in Kauai, Hawaii.

Among fourteen teams, the Team Antigua Island Girls emerged as true champions, exemplifying the solidarity and strength of women alongside their fellow all-women team, Row Aurora.