Dominica’s Kalinago live in a communally owned mountain and coastal area on the east of the island known as the Carib Territory (perhaps soon to be known as the ‘Kalinago Territory’). They are descendents of Amerindians who ventured up the Lesser Antilles island chain from the Amazon River Delta long before Columbus chanced upon the region in the 15th century. These indigenous people became known by Europeans as Island Caribs, or simply Caribs. In Dominica they call themselves Kalinago.

Despite displacing tribal peoples who arrived before them, the Kalinago represent the last vestiges of pre-Columbian life in the Lesser Antilles and, in Dominica, they still cling to a piece of land they call home. In the modern world, an important source of income to the Kalinago comes from tourism. Traditional larouma basketware is sold from roadside stalls and craft shops throughout the island and the Kalinago Barana Auté, a model village constructed as both a tourist site and memorial to how Dominica’s indigenous people used to live, is very popular with visitors. Continue reading »

House of Hope is a non profit organisation that is based in Dominica. It was established by a small group of residents who were concerned for the welfare of mentally and physically challenged children in their community. Children who were receiving little or no help, or who had effectively been abandoned. Delices is a small farming village on the south east coast of the island, a very pretty place, with most of its inhabitants eking a living from subsistence farming and the harvest of bay trees, a traditional cash crop that is distilled for its natural oil.

There is no safety net for children born with mental or physical problems, nor are parents usually equipped nor able to care properly for them. Delices is far from unique in this respect with no state funded social services, nor a pool of expertise on hand to provide the help, guidance and training that is needed. Instead, this kind of care is either provided by family, local and international volunteers, or religious organisations. Continue reading »