Wrote last week, forgot to post: Update

By: Macy Cameron

What an exciting 3 weeks I’ve had already! Many people say that island time runs a little slow, but I feel my time in Saint Vincent will be over before I know it. I have to say, I’ve settled in quite nicely and I am very happy here. I feel I have really learned a lot about myself, and I am pursuing personal goals I set before coming such as cooking more and developing good exercise routines. I am meeting more and more people each day. Vincentians are very fun and loving. I have also had the chance to make homemade dumplings and play tennis with some Taiwanese people working on projects in Saint Vincent. Whether it is work or play, I am continuously learning.

I have almost completed my 2 weeks working with Public Health. During the first week, the staff members and I had training on environmental contamination and pollution. Although some of the things we discussed I have already learned about in the past, there were also things mentioned that I would have not thought about prior to this training. It was interesting to see their perspective on some of the issues regarding the environment and health as well. This was a good opportunity to meet some of the officers which are normally out in the field doing inspections. This week at public health I am working with Ms. Grant, an officer who is responsible for a large section of Kingstown. As food safety is one of my main focuses during this internship, I can really see how they struggle with it. I also see the potential and hope I can help educate people on the importance of food safety and how they can go about doing it. I will do this through both sessions and the guide I am creating. Due to the fact many of the buildings are not originally designed for food establishments, they struggle to meet requirements. For the remainder of the week I will continue doing inspections, and also assist in a food safety workshop for a cocoa company.

I have also had the chance to visit various farms and learn more about the islands agriculture. Yesterday Michker, Kirsten and I drove to the very end of the Leeward side of the island. Here the ministry of agriculture had organized for us to speak to various farmers in a region up that way. The farmers really need some rain! There are many small fires spreading and jumping around, burning dry grass patches. This puts all farmers at risk of potentially losing their crops to fire. Everywhere we went the smell of smoke filled the air. There was also evidence that the fires burnt along the side of the mountain where the road runs, which can lead to future erosion.

We have also had the chance to site see. On the way home from the farm visits we stopped at 2 waterfalls, a really nice beach, and the set where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. It’s really a sin that they didn’t upkeep the movie set. Before coming to the Island, I remember reading that tourism increased because of this, yet there is next to no maintenance being done. I actually struck up a conversation with a man who was there and he helped build it. He was telling me about how it used to look, and how very little remains. The waterfalls I went to were called Dark View falls and Walliabou falls. Dark view falls was amazing and I would strongly recommend making the trip if you are ever nearby, or on the Island.