This talk is the 3rd in a series of 9 talks at the Saint Lucia Knowledge Fair. This event is organized by The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
So what’s the answer? Listen to the talk and find out from Nadia herself! 😉
The title of the catchy calypso song from a few years ago, St Lucia, We Love, really captured the essence of this trip to our Caribbean home base. While the traffic was horrendous, the place and people were simply wonderful. I learned about regattas by being a helper for the Yacht Club’s Mango Bowl Regatta, thanks to Lily! Two experiences made the trip exceptional. One was all about our young people who have grown up into smart, caring young adults who are doing great things in their communities. It made my year to talk to and watch Neige, Kimberly, Keiwa, Kievan, and Pernill in action making their country a better place! The other is working with the
kids of today who are participating in community or school environmental clubs and who have such great enthusiasm and joy in being together under the watchful eyes of a caring teacher like Valerie or our fabulous colleagues in the Peace Corps, Sean and Sarah, or our very own Nadia! Our reusable grocery bags were a big hit! The Marigot kids earned money for their projects by selling them all so very fast! Now we are working with a small grocer to also sell them for us. The grocery stores in St. Lucia no longer give out plastic bags, so this is great timing!
If we all just loved St. Lucia (or our own country) just a little bit more, then maybe our waters would be clean again and the plastic bags and straws and bottles wouldn’t be covering our ocean gyres. Love St. Lucia!
On Monday, homeschooler Cash, his little brother Colt, his mom, and TenneSEA staff Sara finally found a day without rain to venture out to Audubon Acres and make some observations of North Chickamauga Creek. As we were walking to the creek access, we quickly realized we were not the only ones in the woods. Read more
May is garden for wildlife month…..and that fits perfectly with our initiatives in Mountain Creek Watershed! We are partnering with the Chattanooga Area Pollinator Partnership (https://chapollinator.org )and Red Bank Elementary with a nice grant from Tennessee American Water Company to create a pollinator flyway down the Mountain Creek valley to the Tennessee River. Read more
Water. We all require it for life. We all need CLEAN water and LOTS of it! Caribbean SEA and TenneSEA work at the grassroots level to empower kids and their communities to get clean water. The Flint, Michigan water disaster was a wake up call for many to realize that you cannot take your water for granted. The changing precipitation patterns throughout the Caribbean have led to water scarcity or tremendous flooding events. Atlanta, Georgia faces water shortages not just because of increases in water use, but also because of changing precipitation patterns. We CANNOT take our water for granted.
Today, we salute three water champions : Valerie Constantin-Regis, Naomi Abraham Moon, and Randal Hale. Read more
Thanks for the great welcome back! Save Water, Drink Wine was so fabulous this year!!! Many thanks to our SPONSORS and VOLUNTEERS and EVERYONE WHO CAME for making this our […]
Being in the Caribbea
n in February is usually a reason for envy, but this time the temperatures in Tennessee felt so springlike, it was actually difficult to leave the States! These first pictures are from Dominica, the Nature Island, where rainforests cover much of the interior and the rainforests of the sea are vibrant and alive….except when they aren’t.. Nearly two years ago, Tropical Storm Erika dumped something like 27 inches of rain on the island in ten hours causing massive flooding and river erosion. That sediment from the rivers is still heading out to the reefs near Coulibistrie, where my friend Izzy showed me the new deltas that have formed and the small, winding, tree covered streams which are now wide river beds devoid of trees. Our plan is to evaluate the reefs and work on stream bank stabilization so maybe, just maybe, we can save these reefs. We will need lots of help. Read more
I watched this video again today. I haven’t seen Goliath Grouper since I swam with them in the Bahamas when I was a kid. I am so impressed with Cuba’s protection of the mangrove and reefs. They are intimately connected. Without the mangrove nursery AND the coral reef, life in the Caribbean Sea will not flourish.
Come join us in our annual event to protect the water by enjoying wine and tapas at The Barn Nursery! Silent and live auction items this year from each of our Chattanooga area and Caribbean watersheds! Wine provided by Panoram Imports, local wine distributors, and some of our wonderful regional vineyards. Tapas provided by local restaurants which in the past have included Mrs. B’s Reggae Cafe, 212 Market, Terra Nostra, Niedlov’s , Conga Latina, Pruetts Signal Mountain Market and Publix.
Tickets are $45 in Advance and $50 dollars the day of the Event.
This started out as an article for the website and was lost in the great digital shuffle – but we found it and it’s making in appearance. This happened about a year ago and was written by Berry Shultz. There have been more trips since – but this captures what we are doing in Belize:
I went to Belize this summer to fill in for Mary Beth at her Kids 4 Clean Water camp in San Mateo. I anticipated an eye opening experience having traveled in developing countries in the recent past. However nothing could have prepared me for this “eye opening” experience. The golf cart bumped over the pitted “road” into San Mateo and the panorama that is life there spread in front of me and unbidden tears began streaming down my face. My skin felt too sensitive to touch, my scalp was tingling uncomfortably and I could not form words.
