{"id":1995,"date":"2025-01-01T18:06:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T18:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/?page_id=1995"},"modified":"2025-02-11T20:33:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:33:06","slug":"dominique-caraibes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/stories\/dominique-caraibes\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominica, Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dominica \u2013 Dealing with Devastation<\/h1>\n

Hi, my name is Faith. I live in the country of Dominica. <\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dominica is a mountainous, volcanic island in the Caribbean Sea between Martinique and Guadeloupe. It is wonderful country, with 365 rivers, waterfalls and abundant forests. Many people make a living through agriculture and eco-tourism. \n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I was 18 years old when my country was hit by Hurricane Maria, a category 5 hurricane. It was one of the deadliest and most intense hurricanes in history. <\/h4>\n \n

The hurricane moved very slowly and came with heavy rains, strong winds and severe flooding. Along the coasts, the water levels rose to the roofs of many houses. Many homes were severely damaged, and mine and many others were completely destroyed. \n<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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My parents were farmers and they lost all of their crops during the hurricane. The hurricane altered everything we knew. Many people lost their lives by landslides or due to flash floods.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I was very scared but after the hurricane the community came together and immediately started to clean up debris and repair or build whatever homes they could. In Dominica, our communities are strong. <\/h3>\n\n \n

My family stayed in a nearby shelter after the hurricane while my parents tried to find somewhere for us to live. Life in the shelter was not easy, there was little space and little privacy. <\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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For food and water, we received rations from international aid organisations. There was food but not the type that I was accustomed to eating such as plantain and sweet potatoes. We had to eat rice and flour instead. Dominica\u2019s rivers provided us with water. To ensure that we did not get sick we had to use water filtration pills. <\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Many people left at this time to go to other countries. My mother sent me to live in Barbados with my aunt after the hurricane. I returned four months later. There was still no electricity, but many homes had generators which were donated.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Leaving to go to another country was easier because Dominica is part of two regional groups in the Carribean: the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and CARICOM (Caribbean Community). Agreements between Caribbean countries allowed Dominicans to stay in other Caribbean countries for up to six months. Many never returned and instead found jobs and placed their children into schools in their new countries.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The anxiety of that time lives on in many of us. My family worries that we will lose everything that we have again. When I hear of a storm developing in the Atlantic Ocean or see the announcement for hurricane season, I feel nervous. My little sister gets scared whenever the rain falls heavily as it reminds her of the hurricane.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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My country is taking steps to ensure that we are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather events. We have built sea and river walls, improved our building code and invested in early warning systems in local communities. Hopefully this will mean that we are better able to withstand future storms. Our strength also comes from the bonds of support that exist within our community.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAbout the Artist<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\"\"<\/h3>

Dina Hinds<\/h3>

Dina Hinds is a Barbadian artist, environmentalist, and attorney-at-law who began her artistic journey in 2021. Specialising in acrylic and watercolor, her work celebrates the beauty of nature, with a particular passion for botanical art inspired by the vivid hues and lush landscapes of the Caribbean. As an academic, her research focuses on climate change and environmental justice. Through both her art and scholarship, she seeks to advocate for a sustainable future, blending creativity and intellect to inspire meaningful change.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominica \u2013 Dealing with Devastation Hi, my name is Faith. I live in the country of Dominica. Dominica is a mountainous, volcanic island in the Caribbean Sea between Martinique and Guadeloupe. It is wonderful country, with 365 rivers, waterfalls and abundant forests. Many people make a living through agriculture and eco-tourism. I was 18 years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1072,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1995","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1995\/revisions\/2111"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climigrant.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}