The Fahies—first cousins & children of two brothers—Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1) who is also the current Chairman of the VIP, along with President of the BVI Cancer Society, Gloria A. Fahie were both honoured at last night’s event. Photo: VINO

In accepting the award, Premier Fahie spoke of his journey into politics while expressing overwhelming gratitude to the people of the First District who kept re-electing him every election cycle. Photo: VINO

Money raised for the BVI Cancer Society. Photo: VINO

The Fahies—first cousins & children of two brothers—Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1) who is also the current Chairman of the VIP, along with President of the BVI Cancer Society, Ms Gloria A. Fahie were both honoured at last night’s event.

Gratitude

In accepting the award, Premier Fahie spoke of his journey into politics while expressing overwhelming gratitude to the people of the First District who kept re-electing him every election cycle.

He was also high in praise to several others such as the Territory’s first Premier, Hon Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE, who was also the leader of the VIP; the lone surviving founding member of the VIP, Ms Naomi Turnbull; the late Chief Minister Cyril B. Romney along with VIP stalwart and current Minister for Health, Hon Carvin Malone among others.

According to Hon Fahie, they all had words of wisdom and have kept him strong throughout his political career and on the journey to becoming the Territory’s Premier.

Philanthropic Award

Meanwhile, Ms Fahie was applauded for her works and received the Philanthropic Award on behalf of the BVI Cancer Society in commemoration for their fight for the causes of breast cancer survivors and also for her lifetime commitment to fighting for the rights of others in society.

In accepting the award, Ms Fahie revealed some moving statistics relating to Cancer, “Last year, there were 17 million new cases of cancer worldwide… The four most common cancers are lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancers. Worldwide there will be 27.5 million new cases each year by 2040,” she said.

According to Ms Fahie, cancer is the number two cause of death, second only to heart disease, “For reasons such as these, [it ] is why we have to raise funds aggressively and to encourage the community, businesses, groups and individuals to champion the cause of cancer which is becoming very prevalent in our Virgin Islands,” she said.

The event was well attended by a wide cross-section of persons in the territory, with the VIP—still in a celebratory mode—marking its victory at the 2019 General Elections in the Virgin Islands (VI).