Tragedy Strikes

I laid in bed on a rainy Monday morning, enjoying a holiday at home to relax. As I enjoyed my relaxation tragedy was just over the mountain. In the small village neighboring mine, and where I teach at the primary school a landslide over took a home. Inside the home were three people; a man, a woman and a small boy, they were buried in the muddy mountain that collapsed on their home. The bodies yet to be found.
As the rain continued to fall hard crowds made their way and gathered around the bay and slide of earth that made its way into the sea. Firefighters and rescue teams taped off the scene; which didn't keep curious Dominicans away, and began digging through the piles and piles of mud, boulders, trees and branches. People gathering around climbed the landslide now adjoining to the rock wall to get better views, fisherman stepped in their boats and people continued passing the yellow tape. Watching as pieces of what used to be a home were pulled out a guitar halved was discovered and tossed to the side... one of the many possessions lost on this day.
As the hours passed and the rain fell, more landslides occurred. On my way back up the hill to head home we were informed of a blockage in the road. Sure enough an enormous side of a mountain had slid down positioning two palm trees perfectly in the middle of the road. My ride stopped there to turn around while I made the trek through the bushy jungle to cross the landslide. Full of mud I made it through and walked another 1/2 hour to reach my house, glad to be home, safe and resting.
Once evening came three bulldozers reached the area to clear the roads of the messes and assist in the digging of the house. As we go into the night crowds continue to gather and hundreds of people are waiting to see the discoveries under the mass of earth. The man's body was the first to be unburied, followed by the woman and 5 yr old boy. All declared dead and the funeral takes place Thursday, 3 June.









My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost friends and family in this natural disaster.

A Brand New School

The primary school should have opened in September 2009 ... circumstances occurred ... 7 months later here we are! The school opening of the most modern school in Dominica. The two-story school is adorned with an art room, kitchen/home ec classroom, auditorium, laboratory, library, computer lab and classroom balconies. The grounds are still in construction and will finish in ''phase II''. The basketball court has been laid but a playing field, parking lot and sea wall must be created. Also the destruction of the 30 year old must occur over the summer months. This will make an absolutely amazing view of the ocean from the classrooms and campus.
My position is the ''librarian''; there have been 450 books donated from the wonderful state of Michigan. Other providers will donate in the beginning of the next school year. I have tagged, organized and packed about 700 books so far and continue to make the library and reading corner a fun learning environment!

Easter Holiday!

The entire family (6) came down to Dominica for Easter this year! We stayed in Mero in an amazing and perfect apartment hotel. It hosted 8 of us comfortably and its back balcony was our dining area for all meals and a gorgeous view of the Caribbean Sea. The days we didn't spend sunning and swimming on the beach we went sight seeing in the city of Roseau, Trafalgar Falls, Petite Soufriere, Scott's Head, Sulfur Springs, Screw's Spa, Portsmouth, Cabrits and others....

paint paint paint

before

after

More successful painting jobs done by the male youth. Another Saturday working hard and having fun on top of the village hill. We spent about four hours cleaning, mixing paints, painting, repainting and enjoying the time.

...Momentum...

The youth I have been working with are continuing to impress me! My counterpart and I show up on Saturday mornings to do community service and the young people consistently show up as well. Last project,we worked for 7 hours(!) on a painting and cleaning job. A bus stop which had paint peeling off, dirt and grim everywhere and just uninviting we cleaned and repainted. Once we finished it looked so nice we all took our shoes off before entering the stop! We also used some of our funds to hire a village member to clean the vines and weeds behind a mural. This was done by the previous volunteer but after a couple years it has faded. We touched it up and brightened the encouraging words on it. We had a family cook us an amazing lunch of rice, lentils and chicken which they delivered to us in a huge pot. The ten of us sat on our bench and ate, talked and laughed until we continued our work well into the afternoon.

CARNIVAL

Carnival is said to be the most festive time of the year in Dominica. Also known as 'The Real Mas', it is a pre-Lenten festival, and usually falls in February or March each year. It is hard to miss the fervour of the people's loyalty to their favorite calypsonian or pageant during the preceding months of the Calypso Final and the National Queen Show.

Parade in the city on Carnival Tuesday.

"My kids" in kindergarten made Carnival masks in art class.

I spent both days (mon & tues) in the city celebrating with friends and fellow PCVs. Monday morning consisted of a "jump up" where people dance in the streets from 4am until about 10am. The morning was then quiet until the afternoon where the dancing started again. Large trucks with speakers and sound systems set up on them slowly drove through the streets while the dancers followed the music.

MONTSERRAT!

This morning I woke up to a layer of dust along my porch banister... ?

Looking out it looked foggy... or dusty even... ?

Where I could usually watch the ocean waves roll there was a faint blue abyss where the water sat...

Montserrat a volcanic island 30miles north of Guadaloupe threw ashes 9 miles into the sky overnight. Many of the Caribbean islands are feeling effects from this with a dusty, cloudy day. It does not cause problems breathing, it is not that thick however it is covering EVERYTHING... and making quite the mess. Some of the islands closer to Montserrat have closed schools and authorities are encouraging people to stay inside, and keep windows and doors closed.

But no alarm, here in Dominica we are experiencing a thin layer of ash on houses, cars, etc. Flights have been canceled since last night, through today and authorities estimate the ash will remain for the better part of the day.

Monserrat Photo: PHOTO FROM 1997 ERUPTION

PHOTO OF AERIAL VIEW