We,De People

Since the tragedy of hurricane Erika mash up Dominica, the loss of life and devastation was pun a scale unprecedented in de region, I not even sure how many people dead but we know it is many and most of de damage was from de raging waters and de overflowing rivers of the Nature Isle. My Domincan friends boast to have a Ree-Va (river) fuh every day of de year, Dominica is a place of diverse beauty, many many rivers, magnificent waterfalls, majestic mountains, plenty fruit growing in every direction and friendly caring people. Years ago doing some work in Dominca I met several people who today I number among my friends, I stayed at a place called de Layou River Inn pun de Layou river and after work I use to rush home to go and jump into the river fuh a swim.My middle daughter Alana was bout 8 years old and she use jump into the river upstream and coming flying down like a Olympic swimmer and me and de madam would catch her as she came powering down, “do it again daddy” she would shout and away she would go, jumping into de waters again and again to swim fast wid de currents.

Dem same beautiful waters would have been among de unfriendliest when hurricane Erika touch down and being as far away from dat river woulda mean de difference between life and death, nature, majestic and beautiful one day, bringing joy and excitement, de next bringing death and destruction.

In de aftermath of de mayhem when even de airport at Melville hall get shut down, de people of Bubbadus rallied to de call fuh help, I can’t tell what de final tally is but I suspect dat millions of dollars in aid get raise by people, from community groups to service clubs, churches, musicians and entertainers, one private group raise over $100,000.00 in cash, well done South Central Entertainment, Paul Johnson sailed into Dominca twice wid supplies in de immediate aftermath, media houses tek part in de efforts and across Bubbadus de message was de same, One Caribbean, One people, it was spontaneous and immediate, everybody wanted to help.

Two sundays ago Caribbean artistes lineup at Kensington oval for a One Caribbean concert, they came from every part of the region, the biggest and best names in the industry, they perform fuh free, airlines chipped in with free seats, hotel wid accommodation, this Dominica response thing was once again utterly amazing.

To de Vendor the signal point in all of dis was dat dese efforts came from de people, not from governments in de region, yes Mia Mottley was de convenor of one of the major efforts, de One Caribbean concert and she had support from de Bubbadus government but de response in all dese fundraising efforts mainly came from THE PEOPLE!

Once again I found myself asking how come it so hard fuh Caribbean leaders to come together as one region, how come dis unity thing is such a difficult pill fuh dem to swallow, how come we can’t get some to stop loitering pun de steps of de British Privy Council and join the CCJ, how come when some Caribbean people arrive in other Caribbean countries dem does get treat like dem from Mars, how come we can’t share embassies and high commissions,  can’t speak wid one voice pun a candidate fuh Commonwealth Secretary General but yet we de people in times of crisis know dat we is one? I done know de answer, cause we de people way ahead of de politicians, we de people been long integrating, through work, marriage and relationships, friendships and experiences, we de people long fuh de day when all ah we truly is one!

But it not gine happen until we de people send a message to de people we elect to stop de foolishness, de pettiness and get on wid de job of integrating de region into countries CONNECTED, not separated, by water!

I Market Vendor gone fuh now, you have a blessed and a wonderful day, yuh hear?