John's Next Step

The Prime Minister of Dominica used the Kwéyól saying for “Enough crying, let's get on with it” in a press briefing last week. He wanted to tell the people to be strong and help others. I am ready to do that. Peace Corps continues to look at the island as a whole and our sites individually - schools and homes.  They will reach a decision with Washington and inform evacuated volunteers by Nov 10 th , as mentioned in previous posts.  We will have up to three options: return to service in Dominica, serve on a different island, or end service.  I want to remain a Peace Corps volunteer so I hope to get more than just the last option.    A short video of part of my normal ride down from Tete Morne to Roseau. I've seen pictures and I've read stories about Dominica in the weeks since Maria.  Some are hopeful, some not so much.  Life is getting better, but still difficult for many on the island and it will continue to be that way for some months ahead.  There is a great

Parting with things. This week I made progress on getting rid of some things that I had been saving.  My plan is to have everything I want to keep on one set of shelves in the basement along with a large handing bag for some clothing, a small spinning wheel, and a small side table of sentimental value.  I think I’m getting close to that with the help of my children.  But, I still have more work to do. The hardest things to part with this week were books and some Red Cross things that Theresa and I had acquired.  It seems that each time I go through my books, and I started with a lot, I cut the number of books in half.  I’m now down to less than one box.  I have to take a deep breath and trust in libraries and the internet during the process. The Red Cross stuff was emotionally hard to sort.  This included cleaning up the “go box” for disasters that Theresa made, and going through our certificates, awards, and equipment.  (Theresa and I were local Red Cross Disaster volunteers f

The back of my house BEFORE the storm. Living room Bedroom with security camera .... I had been told about the damage earlier, but the good news this week is that I got pictures of my house in Dominica so I better understand and know the damage.   The bad news is that I got the pictures and saw the extent of the damage.   The good news is the house can be repaired.   The bad news is that….   Well, this could go on and on… As mentioned before I knew that living on a Caribbean island included the risk of hurricanes.  I admit I didn’t understand it completely, and like of lot other people on the island I was rather relaxed about the expected category 1 or 2 storm.  But I’ve learned my lesson well. Life is a learning experience and Peace Corps provides opportunities for more pop quizzes/lessons than I got in my old life.  Next time… So as you can see – the roof to my house was almost completely ripped off.  I lost some things.  However, I was very blessed by that m

I have so many things I want to say.  This week I focus on the news that Dominica and her people continue to recover and rebuild.  Hurricane Maria ran directly over the island with 160 mph winds as a category 5 on Sept. 18 and damaged or destroyed everything on the island, the entire island, the entire nation.  The agriculture sector, critical to the economy, was damaged as much as buildings - everything was hit with the full force of the storm. I don’t want to say Maria completely destroyed the island because it did not.  The island and her people are too strong to be taken out by just a cat 5.  Yes, terrible damage all over.  90% structures significantly damaged or destroyed .  Wind and rain torn virtually every leaf off every tree even if the tree was left standing with broken branches.  My school was destroyed, and my roof was partially damaged; but my landlady’s roof was fine with limited damage to windows and doors.  The island was damaged, not destroyed. I don't want to