Capinahan Primary School is a couple of buildings set back from a narrow track down which our 4×4 is bouncing. Traffic laws are slightly different here than they are in the UK, so we take it in turns to ride in the back of the 4×4 like a chariot, gripping onto the spotlight bar as the vehicle shimmies over the rough terrain.

As we approach, children and parents are lining the road smiling and waving full stop our vehicles come to a halt, and we hop out.

Greg has joined us for the last part of this expedition, which is a trip to the local primary school. We will soon be dramatically increasing its numbers as the young children from our village, a kilometre also up the road, join the staff and pupils there.

We have done a little bit of proprietary work preparation for this visit. The playground – which a couple of weeks ago was simply a forlorn frame that once had a swing on it – has now been replaced with a new robust and child friendly play area, and we have provided them with learning materials and sports equipment.

We are taken on a tour of the school, which doesn’t take long as it’s essentially three rooms. One for the older children, one for the younger children, and a kindergarten.

The school still bears the ravages of storms past. The doors in some places are hanging off the hinges, there are holes in the Wall where 200-mile-an-hour winds have hurled debris against it like a cannon, and there are no toilets for the children to use.

But despite all of that, you would have to go a long way to find more polite, obedient and happy children, supported by their teaching staff, who spare no energy to make the most of what they have both in terms of teaching equipment and food to keep their young charges able to concentrate and improve their prospects for the future.

Greg is moved by the condition of the school and by the dedication of those it serves, and so we design a 5 point aid package which not only includes building new toilets and wash facilities, but also completely renovating all of the buildings, providing computer equipment and IT training, and assisting them with their food budget so that everyone will be well fed,

This will not only help the students there today, but it will also provide the stable basis for the school to expand so that it will be able to become the first Steps in learning for the children from our Village.

The offer is received with the quiet graceful thankfulness we have come to associate with the people of this beautiful island, and as we head to the airport to fly back to the UK, one of my lingering memories is the smiles on the children’s faces as they run around after the footballs, hula hoops and other toys that they have now been given.

It’s time for us to go, but a small part of us will continue to remain with these amazing people, and we return to the UK all the more dedicated to providing them – and others like them with a brighter future.