Sustainable Change

By Precious Peter

A strategy that worked 20 years ago to solve a problem or deal with an issue, may not be the best way to handle similar problems in present times. Things change with time, and so some of the laws that govern our society should too. Hurricane Maria has allowed me to really think about, and question, a few things about our laws and policies with regards to sustainability. My assigned topic on our ongoing project Carisealand, has allowed me to do further research into the topic of Environmental Law.

“God bless perseverance because it’s not easy” ~ Junot Diaz.

Looking back to when I first became an intern at Create Caribbean, I realized that I’ve come a long way. We all have. I have learnt so much just from being a member of this esteemed institution. I also learnt things that could be applied to life and my approach to certain situations.

This semester at Create Caribbean has honestly been pretty tough, but all worth it beyond measure. The process of working towards our goal has been tedious but exciting and fruitful. On this project, I am partnered with a lovely individual named Rhea Xavier; however everyone’s task is linked in some way or another, which is one of the most beautiful things about this project. Rhea is so strong willed and hard-working and it’s been such a pleasure working with her. She, along with the other members of our Create family, continue to inspire me and amaze me by achieving all that we do: both in and out of Create Caribbean. Carisealand is a major project that we are undertaking and it is coming along very well and is definitely something to look out for.

The various responsibilities associated with my involvement in this project includes:

  • conducting interviews with persons knowledgeable within the areas of our topic, which is Environmental law,  and a subtopic: Building Codes.
  • Conducting research and acquiring information found within the Dominica Documentation Center, and The Archives.
  • the formulation of scripts for the continuation of our insightful Carisealand series.
Create Interns

One of the persons whom we conducted an interview with was Mr. Kelvin Rolle, the chief physical planner of Dominica. He appeared to be well versed on the topic of Building Codes, and so most of the information he supplied us with was quite helpful. He also stated that the Dominica Building Code is currently being revised.

With regards to the law, the internet was not a very reliable source of information, however, The Dominica Documentation Center provided some legislature and policies which were deemed useful.

Apart from Mr.Rolle, we intend to meet and converse with other persons who may influence the research and shed positive and applicable information regarding the topic.

As I have mentioned before, working with the rest of the Create family has been easy-going for the most part. The new members fit in quite easily and I am personally happy to have them on board with us along with their skills/talents.

On another note,Create Caribbean has also done creative seminars with the third and fourth formers of The Convent High School and that was indeed a success. I was elated to be a part of such an activity and I know the students had a great time as well.

Being a member of Create can be quite time consuming, especially paired with school work. However, nothing good comes easy and that’s one of the reasons why I am still here.

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