by Jada Esprit
After several months of constant fundraising and promotional efforts, Create Caribbean is finally in the City of New York. On Friday 22 July, 2016 six interns left Dominica and headed for Barbados. That was the first leg of our journey. We then took off on Sunday 24 July, 2016 for the big city. Excitement was in the air when we finally landed. Although we were all initially exhausted from the trip, we took the opportunity to head out to experience the city for the first time. Though this is not my first time in the stimulating City of New York, this time it felt different. This time I am here with my “ Create family”.
We came to New York with the intention of exchanging academic research with students from various colleges, as well as, exploring schools for our educational future, as many of us will be moving on from the Dominica State College (DSC) and seeking a higher education soon. This was a trip which I needed sincerely due to my unmeasured feelings about my future after I graduate from DSC.
So far we have visited many educational facilities including the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial Museum and African Burial Ground. Visiting these museums and parks exposed us to many historical events which have occurred in the past. These places simply educated and reminded us of where we came from, as well as the blessings we all share.
However, museums and parks are not the only places we have seen so far. On 28 June, 2016 we showcased all our projects to the staff and students at Medgar Evers College. Some of these projects and programmes include our Imagined Homeland Project, Dominica History Project, Small Business Research Database Project, Carisealand Project and Create & Code. All these projects received positive responses from everyone in the room. They seemed very intrigued by the work we do.
Following our presentations, members of Medgar Evers College decided to share some of their projects with us. We got to know about their gentrification project as well as an environmental project which was based on the island of Montserrat. For this project they visited that island to examine the economic and social impacts on the island caused by the eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano, as well as the events which 
led up to it. The students gave back to the people of Montserrat by teaching them some of their skills; dancing, singing and arts & crafts.
The exchange of research which occurred at the school showed possible future collaboration between Medgar Evers College and Create Caribbean. This is due to our similar project interests. After the presentations we were presented with a guided tour of the campus where we learned that the school was named after a civil rights activist, as well as the school grounds, which we learnt was once a stadium.
In conclusion, since we have only been in the city for five days there is much more of New York we expect to see. During the following week we expect to explore other universities, update our projects, visit authentic places and of course have fun.