A Message from Peter Schweitzer, Plenty's Executive Director
1998 PROJECTS REVIEW
COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE IN SOUTHERN BELIZE
AN ECOTRAIL FOR PUEBLO VIEJO
RETURN TO DOMINICA

RETURN TO DOMINICA

by Chuck Haren, Plenty Board Member and Volunteer

Reentering Dominica after almost 3 years of absence held a special meaning for me. I had lived there from 1984 to 1990 and have a lot of close friendships there as well as a big love affair with the island and its people. Making this voyage with Jeffrey Keating, a Plenty Board member, gave him and people we have worked with since 1983 a chance to become acquainted. It also afforded them an opportunity to speak with someone who had many years of experience working with communications technologies.

The Waitikabuli Development Association (WAIKADA), formed by the Indigenous Carib people representing the Carib Council, Karifuna Cultural Group, Organization of Concerned Carib Women, and the Carib Farmers Association, has been working toward setting up a Carib radio station to help them maintain community cohesiveness and cultural traditions among their people. They also are well aware of the importance of a radio station and use of new computer technologies in helping the education of Carib children. Jeffrey spoke to many people in the Carib Territory about both the technical and logistical aspects of establishing the radio station. We met with the Carib Territory Parliamentary Representative who is also Dominica's new Parliamentary Secretary. He, and representatives of WAIKADA, are doing everything they can to see that the Carib people receive a license to run their own radio station this year. Plenty has been asked to provide technical support when the license is secured.

Jeffrey's knowledge of international computer networking will be very useful to many of the grassroots groups Plenty is working with in Dominica. Dominicans want people to know about their culture, the natural rainforests, pristine, fresh water rivers and beautiful coastlines they have maintained in combination with a strong, diversifying agricultural base. They are a very independent minded people. While almost every island in the Caribbean has had the major part of their economy taken over by outside interests, Dominicans have always demanded that major land ownership and investments remain in the hands of nationals. In the past ten years television has fostered a greater anxiety among Dominicans to acquire more things. Now there is a large copper mining company that wants to rip away at the interior of this small island jewel. People need jobs (unemployment is 30-35%). Plenty will continue its support for grassroots organizations in Dominica by helping them create non-destructive employment opportunities. Jeffrey was able to help people in several organizations improve their understanding of computer networking and is working to get some of them on-line.

We hiked up and down the hills visiting families who were growing larumen grass, and both traditional (arrow root, dasheen, tania, cassava) and non-traditional (tomatoes, peppers, squash, cabbage, onions) vegetables.

The larumen grass is used to produce 80% of Carib craft items and had never been widely cultivated. The result was that people were having to travel off their land to find it. With the help of a grant from the Atkinson Foundation and Plenty the Karifuna Cultural Group (KCG) has established three 1/2 a. demonstration plots to show Carib families how larumen can be cultivated near their homes. Over the past two years KCG has also conducted educational workshops aimed at improving community awareness of the need to re-establish this plant, and to give technical support to families taking up the challenge of growing it. We were very pleased with the results from these efforts. At least 45 people started to grow larumen grass on their family plots and, everywhere we went, people were expressing interest in establishing this crop.

The Carib Farmers Association (KARIFA) received a grant from Food For All through Plenty last year to assist them in helping families establish vegetable crops other than bananas. We visited 14 different families who had started growing 1/2 to 2 a. each of dasheen, tania, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, squash and other vegetables. KARIFA is conducting workshops and providing on-site technical support for people who are growing vegetables to help families with production and sale of vegetable crops, to heighten awareness of nutritional needs, and to help people learn the importance of land management practices through the replanting of hardwood trees, terrace farming and planting larumen grasses. They are also managing a revolving loan fund for seed and materials that helps families make the break from growing only bananas. As of June 1st this year KARIFA has provided a total of US $2600 in loans among 31 farming families. KARIFA is now providing regular technical support for 45 Carib families.

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