Resilience

In Dominica, UNICEF is helping children cope with the devastation of Hurricane Maria through play activities and storytelling - Jacqueline Charles

miamiherald.com - by Harika Rayala and Jacqueline Charles - October 17, 2017

 . . . Recognizing that the trauma from Irma and Maria’s one-two punch is creating a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness among survivors, shelter managers and mental health experts in Antigua and Dominica are on a mission to help people cope with the stress and anxiety. But in a region where mental health awareness is just gaining traction, giving that sort of support isn’t easy.

“If we don’t deal with the mental health issue, the psychological first aid … than we are in trouble,” said Wendel De Leon, a behavioral therapist who recently led a team of therapists from Trinidad and Tobago into Dominica.

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dominicanewsonline.com - September 23, 2017

In words ripe with emotion lamenting that “Eden is broken”, Dominca’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the UN General Assembly this morning, seemingly intent on drawing the world’s attention to current conditions in Dominica in what he described as a landscape resembling a war zone.

The image he evoked was in direct support of his plea to fellow world leaders to assist the hurricane-ravaged island by lending the rebuilding equipment which would otherwise remain untouched “waiting for a war” and which is so desperately needed for the work of rebuilding the country. Roosevelt asserted that Dominica is indeed that war, to the applause of the floor.

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