Where do we go next?

By Tonilia Eli

After the passage of Hurricane Maria, life in Dominica paused. The question “where do we go next?” echoed in the minds of the people who saw their life change in a matter of hours. I personally did not know how to move forward, I just knew that I had to. The destruction of the Create Caribbean work facility was unbelievable and the question echoed again, “where do we go next?” It was almost impossible to feel hopeful after seeing such damage. Thankfully, Dr. Esprit was able to instill hope into her interns by reminding us of our purpose. She was not prepared to let the destruction of the hurricane hinder our progress.

We were introduced to Carisealand; our new project and a gateway to many opportunities. Carisealand focuses on the impact of climate change in various categories ranging from the environment to an economic standpoint. As an economics major, I felt it beneficial to me to look into the effect climate change has on the economy of a country; especially since the passing of Hurricane Maria. The economic damage was massive and the entire country was set back at least 10 years in development. Businesses lost stock and infrastructure, thus lost profits and had to let go many of their employees. Prices rose to make up profit and consumption declined. It was a whole cycle of economic decline. However, there are efforts being made to restore normalcy in the economy.

My part in this project brings me further in the analysis of all these problems and their possible solutions. There are some areas of the project that I am still skeptical about but as I dig deeper, the more I learn. Gathering information for the project has been an extreme challenge because of the absence of electricity in many areas of the country and seeing that so much was lost during the hurricane, it has been a struggle to find a productive environment. Also, with the recommencement of school, time is much more limited than before. Moreover, contacting other Caribbean countries for information has been a challenge since many islands were faced with Hurricane Irma just a few weeks before Hurricane Maria. Regardless of all these challenges, I am excited to see the outcome of this project. I know that it will be great and I hope that people, after presented the project, will appreciate the information and take precaution of the rapid and life changing effects of climate change.