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CDB INTHE COMMONWEALTH OF

DOMINICAPARTNERING FOR POVERTY REDUCTION

CONTENTS

MEMBERSHIPBased in Barbados, the Caribbean Development Bank is owned by 26 member countries including 18 regional borrowing members, 3 regional non-borrowing members and 5 non-regional members.

REGIONAL MEMBERS (BMCS) Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands

REGIONAL MEMBERS (NON-BMCS) Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela

NON-REGIONAL MEMBERS Canada, Germany, Italy, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom

BMCs – Borrowing Member Countries

CDB MISSON STATEMENTCDB intends to be the leading catalyst for development resources into the Region, working in an efficient, responsive and collaborative manner with our BMCs and other development partners, towards the systematic reduction of poverty in their countries through social and economic development.

The CDB Way ............................................................................................ 2Meeting Needs – Supporting Growth ........................................................ 4Growing – The Nature Island ..................................................................... 7Quick Facts & Development Indicators ..................................................... 9Working with the People of the Commonwealth of Dominica .................. 11

THE SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND UNIFIED (SDFU) PROJECTS

SAFE FROM THE SEA ........................................................................... 13WORkING WITH NATURE ..................................................................... 15THE SECOND CHANCE SCHOOL ......................................................... 17WATER CHANGING LIVES .................................................................... 18kALINAGO (CARIB) TERRITORY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ............ 20SHARING A PROUD HERITAGE ............................................................ 23COMMUNITY HEALTH ........................................................................... 27COMING HOME ...................................................................................... 29LEARNING POTENTIAL ......................................................................... 31

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CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT BANk: THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA

The Caribbean Development Bank is working together with you to reduce poverty through community-driven social and economic development.

PARTNERSHIPS FOR POVERTY REDUCTIONThe CDB Way

Despite the Caribbean’s social and economic progress, too many people

still face the challenges of poverty (76% of people in Haiti and an average

of 26% in other Caribbean countries). The CDB is meeting that challenge

in partnership with communities throughout the region, offering much-

needed loans, grants, equity investments, guarantees, policy advice, and

technical assistance. These funds come from Ordinary Capital Resources

and Special Fund Resources. The Special Development Fund Unified

(SDFU) accounts for 90% of these Special Fund Resources and is

one of the CDB’s most vital sources of funding.


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As the Caribbean’s premier regional financial institution, we’ve learned that the

most effective pathway to development is actively listening to and partnering with

the people in our member countries and with our development partners around the

world. Through the Special Development Fund Unified, we work together for:

BROAD-BASED ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INCLUSIVE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND DISASTER-RISk MANAGEMENT

GENDER EQUALITY

GOOD GOVERNANCE

REGIONAL COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION

ORGANISATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS


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THE SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND UNIFIED (SDFU) The CDB’s Special Development Fund Unified offers funding for high-priority

development needs. With support from several contributors, the SDF was established in 1970. And in 1983, the Special Development Fund Unified was created to streamline the Fund’s operations. Funding for the SDFU is replenished every 4 years. The SDFU has its own governance structure and there is an Annual Meeting of Contributors to agree on the Fund’s areas of priority for the next four-year cycle. These negotiations take into account the economic and social situation in the Borrowing Member Countries, the international and regional environment, and the CDB’s capacity.

The SDFU is currently in its 7th cycle, covering the period January 2009 to December 2012. Priorities for this cycle are:

STRENGTHENING POVERTY REDUCTION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ADVANCING THE CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA

SUPPORTING REGIONAL COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION

ENHANCING DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS

MEETING NEEDSSupporting Growth

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Active engagement with the community is key to how the SDFU works. The programme is able to respond effectively through a participatory approach - engaging communities in assessing their own assets and determining their priority needs for funding. This process encourages critical thinking, decision-making and involvement in solutions that benefit the community.

The Special Development Fund Unified (SDFU) supports several proverty focused programmes: THE BASIC NEEDS TRUST FUND (BNTF)

THE CARIBBEAN TECHNOLOGICAL CONSULTANCY SERVICES (CTCS) NETWORk

SOCIAL & ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE

LOW-INCOME MORTGAGES

STUDENT LOANS

LOANS TO SMALL & MEDIUM-SIzED ENTERPRISES (SMES)

BASIC NEEDS TRUST FUND (BNTF) This is a direct, targeted poverty reduction programme, whose mission is to empower and equip communities with necessary resources, and improve their access to basic public services. BNTF grants improve access to health services, education, water and sanitation, and other community needs. Funding is channeled toward projects that reduce people’s economic and social vulnerability to risks that affect income and well-being.

CARIBBEAN TECHNOLOGICAL CONSULTANCY SERVICES (CTCS)The CTCS provides subsidised caribbean technical expertise to organisations and enterprises in CDB Borrowing Member Countries. CTCS services include project planning; evaluating new and expanding businesses; training; resolving production and maintenance problems; and quality control applications. It is a regional consultancy network that supports entrepreneurship and the growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

HUMAN RESOURCE AND PRODUCTIVE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTThe CDB provides lines of credit to national development agencies such as the Dominica Agricultural Industrial and Development Bank. This funding enables eligible students from low income households to access loans for higher education, low-income mortgages for people in need of homes, and loans for small and medium enterprises in agriculture and industry, for the expansion of the Caribbean’s productive sector.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURESDFU funding also improves infrastructure that makes daily life and productivity possible, including roads, schools etc. Special attention is paid to making infrastructure more resistant to the effects of disasters such as landslides, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Caribbean islands such as Dominica, with high rainfall, uneven terrain and many coastal communities, are particularly vulnerable to these threats.

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GROWING The Nature Islandthe commonwealth of dominica, the nature island of the caribbean, known for its lush forests, high mountains and abundant rivers, has survived many challenges. Changes in European preferential market agreements led to the virtual collapse of the country’s banana industry, formally its chief export and the main source of income for many Dominicans. In 2003, the Government began comprehensively restructuring the economy - eliminating price controls, privatising some state companies, and increasing taxes – in order to address an economic and financial crisis. This restructuring paved the way, in 2006, for the highest real growth in two decades, and a reduced debt burden which remains at about 85% of GDP. Then in August 2007, Hurricane Dean struck the island, destroying homes, buildings and other infrastructure, and causing damage equivalent to 20% of the country’s GDP.

However, although almost 30% of the population lives below the poverty line, Dominica is an island rich in natural and cultural resources. Rivers, lakes, streams and waterfalls are replenished by frequent rainfall, providing water for daily use, recreation and export. The tropical forest that covers two-thirds of the island supports tremendous bio-diversity, with great environmental and medicinal potential. In fact, the Morne Trois Pitons National Park boasts, among many natural attractions, hot springs and a “boiling” lake. It is the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Eastern Caribbean. Dominica is also one of a few countries in the Caribbean that still boasts a significant population of indigenous inhabitants, known as the Kalinago. And the culture is a unique blend of African, French, English and Kalinago influences.

Now, despite the global recession, Dominica is working to develop eco-tourism and a fledgling tourist industry, export manufacturing through small and medium-sized enterprises, an offshore financial sector, and untapped geothermal energy from the country’s volcanic landscape.

Composting & gardening projeCt Coordinator, alpha Centre for Children with speCial needs

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COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA

Quick Facts & Development Indicators

* United Nations, CDB

CAPITAL Roseau

SIzE/LAND AREA 751 sq km (290 sq miles)

MAJOR LANGUAGES English (official), Kweyol/French Creole

MONETARY UNIT Eastern Caribbean dollar

POPULATION 71,293 (2011)

POPULATION GROWTH RATE 2.0% (2001-2010)

LABOUR FORCE BY OCCUPATION

Agriculture: 40%,Industry: 32%, Services: 28%

UNEMPLOYMENT 14% = (Men - 20%, Women - 33%) (2009)

EDUCATION Net Enrolment Rate Primary (2010)99% (male) 98% (female)

Net Enrolment Rate Secondary (2010)85% (male) 81% (female)

LIVING WITH POVERTY 28.8% of population

LIVING WITH ExTREME POVERTY

3.2% of population

IMPORTS $225.3 million (2010 est.)

IMPORT COMMODITIES Manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, food, chemicals

IMPORT PARTNERS Japan 44.8%, USA 13.4%,Trinidad and Tobago 10.7%,China 7.5%

ExPORTS $42.8 million (2010 est.)

ExPORT COMMODITIES bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges

ExPORT PARTNERS Japan 35.5%, Egypt 12.4%, Antigua and Barbuda 8%,Jamaica 7%, Guyana 6.7%,Trinidad and Tobago 4.3%

stUdent at the alpha Centrefor Children with speCial needs

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WORkING WITH THE PEOPLEThe Commonwealth of DominicaThe Commonwealth of Dominica joined the CDB in 1970 and by the end of 2011 had received approximately $US212M in financing, comprising $US179M in loans of which $US91M (51%) was funded by SDFU and $US33M in grants of which 63% were funded by SDFU. Of the $US33M in grants $US21M was technical assistance grants and $US12M was BNTF. The funding from CDB was used for financing infrastructure development, such as the sea wall defence, and several road and water projects; grants through the basic needs trust fund; and along with support for the dominica agricultural and industrial development bank - student loans, low income mortgages and support for small and medium-sized productive enterprises.

COMMONWEALTH OFDOMINICA CDB FUNDING

(1970-2011)

$US179M

$US21M$US12M

Loans

BNTFTech

Assist.Grants

pointe miChel sea defenCe wall & road Under ConstrUCtion

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SAFE FROM THE SEA“In Hurricane Lenny I had to leave my house and run for my life. And most of the people living here by the bay had to do the same. Over the years people have lost homes. The road was damaged. Because when the sea is coming up, it is coming up like a tiger.”

thomas sieron has lived in Pointe Michel all his life. Now he is one of the workers building the sea wall to protect the village. “The sea defence, the road re-construction, proper drainage,” he says proudly, “that is what we’re working on for Pointe Michel. And we have the Caribbean Bank to thank.” He points to a gaping watercourse, now dry, leading through the village, cutting across the road, before spilling into the sea. “This is the ravine. It is extremely dangerous. When the heavy showers and storms pass through, big rocks and trees come down and block the street. No one could pass. Now we’re widening the ravine and building a bridge over it.”

lonita nordier stands out on her verandah watching the road and the growing sea wall bustle with workers and other villagers on their way to and from Roseau, stopping in at the small shops, bars and eating establishments along the sea front where she lives.

“When I was growing up, the sea was far away. Now it’s so near to us. It has taken the land away. Further down, all there,” she points, “were houses by the sea. When I came back from my travels, about five years or so, the sea had taken them away. And they were never rebuilt. Now we are so grateful for our wall. Plenty men from the village got jobs through the construction. Things were really bad here when it came to employment. There is no manufacturing industry in the village and farming is not as it was before. So the men in the village are happy for this work, so that they can feed their children, look after their homes.”

The construction of the sea wall is also helping small businesses along the waterfront. clement roberts, a fisherman, owns the Fishpot Bar and eating spot. “During Hurricane Lenny, the sea was coming in right here.” He points to the door of his place. “Now I feel so happy every day when I wake up and see the wall.

The road is great too. We never even had a sidewalk before. Now people can walk or drive safely. Every night we crowded here. From the time the wall build, we getting plenty plenty more business. The wall is very good for me – for everybody.”

Pointe Michel

SEA DEFENCE WALL, NEW ROAD,SIDEWALK, BRIDGE, PROPER DRAINAGE

$US11M


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gail defoeCaribbean agro-prodUCers Corporation

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WORkING WITH NATUREA cure for cancer? gail defoe holds up what looks like a simple green weed. In the production area inside, a woman carefully seals a small packet of tea leaves carrying the name “Nature Fresh”.

Gail is part of the husband and wife team behind the Caribbean Agro Producers Corporation. Patrick “Bunty” Defoe was inspired to start the business. “My husband is an extremely committed Dominican. We lived abroad for many years and he returned when Dominica was having challenges. He was amazed at what we could do with the natural resources we have. Nine years later, we produce 12 herbal teas, fresh coconut water and other products. All of our teas have great medicinal value. This is guinea hen weed, also known as garlic weed or anamu. It is being used to treat five of the toughest forms of cancer. Because of Dominica’s rainy, more overcast conditions, it grows extremely well here. Dominica is blessed to grow herbs in volume that other islands can’t.”

“In a past life, I was a cancer research scientist. So I have a great interest in medicinal herbs.” And interest in guinea hen weed has spread worldwide. Research in Jamaica, Germany, the United States, Cuba and other countries, has found this herb to not only be a powerful anti-cancer treatment, but an immuno-stimulant, pain reliever and anti-inflammatory, effective against numerous strains of bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeast. This comes as no surprise to herbalists and traditional healers.

Gail, originally from Jamaica, now shares Bunty’s commitment to his home community in Dominica. “Wesley is a very rural area. People used to produce a lot of bananas before the decline of the industry and now we’re hoping to get people into producing herbs and other natural products.”

CDB funding went toward new equipment to make the processing line more efficient. Gail and Bunty also value the support for training their workers. From a basic workspace and small operation, they are creating employment and generating income for Dominicans in the factory, the field, and through export. “We supply all of the local supermarkets, but we also export most of our products. The activity you see around you is an export for St. Croix. We supply about 60 supermarkets in Jamaica and we’ll be in Barbados in 2012.”

Bunty is passionate, ready to introduce a new line of products. “I think that we can get the farmers back on track and introduce a new market, new concept for them – vacuum-packing the extra produce they have left on the field: bananas, dasheen, breadfruit, yam. We also have a lot of waste mango here. Instead, we can dry and preserve the fruit and create opportunities for export in this area. We can create employment for the young people who are hopeless, searching for jobs. This is a way to cut down on crime. This is a way to encourage farmers to stay on the field and build their community.”

Wesley

SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTNEW EQUIPMENT, STAFF TRAINING

$US10K

Children at the soCial CentreroseaU

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THE SECOND CHANCE SCHOOL“We try to work with these young people, talk with them, show them kindness, give them support. We have a counselor on site. We do home visits. We have parenting sessions. They learn various skills – woodwork, hospitality, arts and crafts, steelpan, English, Math, a foreign language. If a child wants to do something like auto-mechanics, we source that for them. We try to meet them where they are as much as we can. And it’s working. We see children come in with certain attitudes and at the end of a year they just blossom. Some children get back into secondary school, or enter the Community College. Others get employment, because we have a job attachment programme that all the students do at the end of the year.”

norma cyrille, the Director of the Social Centre, is standing at the door of a classroom full of teenagers. She calls each one by name, teases some of them about being shy in front of strangers. They laugh and hide their faces. Since 1950, the Social Centre has been meeting the needs of families and children with limited financial means. They support a network of ten pre-schools island-wide. But the main Centre in Roseau offers education, training and nurturing to children of all ages. Along with the Model Pre-School, there is a quiet day-care for babies. And in another part of the Centre, young people participate in programmes designed to get them back on track.

The Adolescent Skills Training Programme (ASTP) began in 1986. Over the years it evolved into a programme for young men and women who had to leave school for behavioural or financial reasons. There are also several Haitian children whose parents came to Dominica in search of better opportunities. “Since the earthquake,” Ms. Cyrille says gently, “we have more students from Haiti.”

Another programme at the Centre, From Offending to Achieving (FOTA), is an alternative to going to prison. “It gives young people caught breaking the law a second-chance at life, among people who really care about them. David came into Adolescent Skills Training as a little 15-year-old, chubby boy from Pointe Michel. He liked cooking, so he was in the hospitality class. Everyday he brought food to sell to the staff! After he finished the programme, he assisted us with FOTA. And trust me, he’s very good at it, because he loves the kids. They go out on job attachments. Anything he can do for them he does it.

My dream is to find a way to get the staff better salaries. Because, like David, they are committed, they work hard. We also want to make the building even more useful and attractive to people who use the Centre. Thanks to CDB, BNTF and the Government of Dominica, for doing this massive upgrading for us.”

Roseau

SOCIAL CENTREBUILDING UPGRADE

$US70K

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WATER CHANGING LIVES“If we had water when I was a child, we would be teachers, we would be doctors. I’m 67 years old, and when my children were growing up, we didn’t have water or lights. One of them is a customs officer, one works for the government, the other one is in school in America. So they learned. But we had it hard you know? Now that we have water, the one thing our grandchildren have to do is learn.” marceline moise

In Petite Savanne, high in the mountains, in an area known for producing bay oil, houses perch on the hillsides. A line of washing hangs under a house, out of the rain. Agnes Jolie and Joan Auguiste, two women from the Village Council, walk slowly uphill. It is raining and steep but they keep going.

Petite Savanne

new water systempetite savanne

NEW WATER SYSTEM

$US482K

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“It all began when residents of this area started speaking out. They were staying days without water. They were experiencing breakage in the pipes. And those living higher up had never had water in their homes.”

“Sometimes you get up 2 o’clock in the morning, collect water in buckets or drums, but by the time it’s 6 o’clock the water is used up. So we had to go down to the river to wash our clothes or bathe, to collect water to drink. And insects, pieces of pipes, all of those things were in the water…. And it was much worse for the people who live higher up. Residents with aged people, it was burdensome for them too, because they had to carry water on their heads, to go to their homes, especially if someone was bedridden and you had to carry water to take care of them. It was really stressful.”

“So then we as a Council decided to write a proposal to BNTF. When the consultants came, we had a community meeting. Residents pointed out that just replacing the water tank and the pipes leading to it would not solve the problem. We had a water system of well over 30 years. So our concerns were taken into consideration. The proposal for a $270,000 project became a $1.3 million project to redo the entire water system and connect all the homes in the village. Now we can wash our clothes, use our bathrooms, scrub out our homes.”

ignatis francis and marceline moise are longtime friends and neighbours from the area up the mountain that never had a supply of running water. The new water system has changed their lives, and expanded the potential of generations to come.

“Before, when they wake up in the morning, our children had to take their little calabash or bottle to the river and bathe. And then fill their little container, so that when they come back from school, we can use that water to cook for them. Our children had to bathe in basin because we had no water, no pipes. When it comes to school now, they are late! Always late. Then at 3o’clock, after school, they still had to make about two trips for water again. Sometimes they had to wash their uniforms in that little water. Now we have the water inside our home. Our children have all the time to do their studies and all that they need to do.”

“Things wasn’t looking bright with us, but we have the water now.”


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kALINAGO (CARIB) TERRITORYDEVELOPMENT PROJECTAs part of an earlier project to upgrade eco-tourism sites, CDB financed the construction of the Carib Model Village. A follow-on multi dimensional project is on-going to develop social and economic infrastructure, generate entrepreneurship and employment, and reduce poverty in the Territory and by extension, Dominica. The development is as follows:

COMpLETED Established the kalinago Barana Aute, Village by the Sea: Built on 4.2 acres

of land, the Village honors the important heritage of the kalinago people and

is a source of income for residents. It offers visitors the opportunity to learn

about kalinago culture and enjoy natural attractions such as a waterfall, river,

and trails.

ONGOING Providing Consultancy Services to the kalinago Council and key agencies in

the Territory, equipping them to efficiently manage and monitor development

programmes and projects.

Assisting the Management of the kalinago Barana Aute, Carib Model Village,

in implementing its business plan and a Local Area Plan (LAP) for sustainable

development.

Road Works: Constructing approx. 1.0 km/0.6 mile-long roads from the church

at Salibia to the Carib Model Village, approx. 1.1 km/0.7 mile-long roads from

Horseback Ridge to Concord. And rehabilitating 0.5 km/0.3 miles of existing

road from the Carib Council office in Salibia to Horseback Ridge Road.

Community Centers: Constructing two Community Resource Centers in St.

Cyr and Bataca and equipping all Community Centers in the Territory.

Training in House Retrofitting: Offering workshops and a public awareness

programme for small contractors, artisans and residents, in hurricane-resistant

construction techniques; demonstrating these techniques by retrofitting eight

houses, one in each Hamlet.

Enterprise and Cultural Development Facility: Providing resources for Small

and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Territory, and shared production facilities

that support community-based income-generating ventures.

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CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT BANk: DOMINICA

Charmaine valmondKalinago Craft shop


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Kalinemeti CUltUral groUpheritage village by the sea

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Carib Territory

SHARING A PROUD HERITAGEHanging calabash bowls, bamboo pen holders, coconut husks carved into animal shapes, or the faces of masks, maracas, beaded necklaces and earrings, turtles carrying “Dominica” on their backs, fingertraps, and distinctive woven baskets in different sizes and shapes grace the craft shops that guard the road in what is known as Carib Territory. This area along the northeast coast of Dominica, five miles from the main airport in Melville Hall, is the remaining territory of the Kalinago people, the Caribbean’s original inhabitants.

Cars carefully navigate the main road connecting the eight communities that share this land. In Point Salibia, garnet Joseph, current elected Chief of the Kalinago people, blinks his eyes against the delicious smoke emanating from the open fire where a villager is roasting thick white rounds of cassava bread: giving them a good char on one side, before flipping them over, popping them into brown paper bags, and handing them to eagerly waiting customers.

“Resilience is one of our strengths - the will to survive against all odds. However, we have challenges. One of the biggest problems now is the means of survival. The land, which the Territory has in common, cannot be used as collateral. Some people see this as a restriction, though in my opinion this isn’t necessarily correct. We have to find other ways. At one time, we had one of the highest numbers of banana farmers on the island, but since the collapse of the industry, people have turned to other means of earning a living.”

Some people drew on their Kalinago heritage to make craft items, like the woven baskets, for sale. They are made from a reed called “larouma”, brought to Dominica from South America over 1000 years ago. Charmaine Valmond makes and sells these baskets and other craft from a wooden stall at the side of the road. But “the roads are bad and visitors don’t come through as they used to before.” Sometimes, in an entire day, she sells nothing. “If we come together and get markets for our work in the other islands, that would help us.” So recently, the Carib Craft Project was established to connect villagers with the information, equipment and networks they need, to make this a more viable business venture for the entire community.

Another important initiative is the Kalinago Barana Aute, a Heritage Village by the sea, built to revive, record and share aspects of Kalinago history and culture with local and international visitors. Manager kevin dangleben points out, “It is the only place of its kind in the Caribbean, where visitors can participate in this experience while contributing directly to the self-empowerment of the Kalinago residents.”

Several young people work at the Heritage Village as guides, interpreters, and performers. One young woman, Jeanika Laurent, started the Kalinemeti cultural

CARIB TERRITORYDEVELOPMENT PROjECT

$US3.2M


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group with her brother and friends. They earn their living, in part, from these performances, but it means more to her than money. “The Kalinago people are still here. But if we don’t keep up our way of life and our traditions, the coming generations will not even know about the Kalinago people that existed. We too face social ills like drugs, alcoholism. A lot would be lost if the Heritage Village was not here.”

According to chief Joseph, the Territory has a very youthful population. “About 70% of our people are below 40 years of age.” There is great human potential, but it also brings its own challenges. “We are in the process of building community and training centers to provide continuing education for younger, as well as older residents.” In terms of infrastructure, “we have many things to improve upon in the territory.” For people to access all that the Kalinago people have to offer, “the roads need upgrading, especially after the recent rains and mudslides.”

Like the CDB’s model for development, Chief Joseph believes in empowering the community to address its challenges. To increase employment and create opportunities, he advocates “looking deeper into the culture and drawing on it for economic enterprise. There are a number of things we can revive and offer in a way that generates income, such as our traditional medicines and our culinary arts. The financial institutions need to take a different look at the Territory to see the great potential for generating economic activity here, so that the whole country benefits.”

The Caribbean Development Bank, with financing from SDFU, has risen to the challenge, partnering with the Kalinago Territory on a multi-dimensional development project. This includes working with the Heritage Village to implement its Business Plan; building two new Community Centres and upgrading the existing facilities; and constructing and fixing roads throughout the Territory. The CDB will provide consultancy services to the Kalinago Council, equipping them to effectively coordinate these projects throughout the community. Together, the CDB and the Territory will create an Enterprise and Cultural Development Facility that provides training, equipment, and production space for the Carib Craft Project and other community-based business ventures.

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“It is the only place of its kind in the Caribbean, where visitors can participate in this experience while contributing directly to the self-empowerment of the Kalinago residents.”Kalinago village by the sea

head nUrse agatha shillingford (left)nUrse mary ann lawrenCe (Centre)st. joseph health Centre

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St. Joseph

COMMUNITY HEALTH“With the facilities and the equipment we have, we are able to save lives.” Agatha Shillingford, a nurse for more than 36 years, is the Head Nurse at the St. Joseph Health Centre. “Refurbishing the Health Centre,” with the help of the CDB, “this has really enhanced our work, because it has allowed us improved space and more equipment. In addition to emergency care, we do maternal and child health services, cancer screening, family planning. We have a doctor’s clinic twice a week, immunization programmes. We do education programmes at the beginning of almost every clinic. We also have school health programmes. We educate people about lifestyle changes, since we have been seeing an increase in non-communicable chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.”

“I born and raise in St. Joseph,” nurse mary ann lawrence adds proudly, “and I’ve been working here for 8 years. The Health Centre serves a large area – five communities extending from Colihaut in the north, to Mahaut in the south. The Health Centre is ideally located, close to the highway. We have nurses on call after working hours, because a lot of people do not have access to their own personal transport. If they have an emergency, it might be troublesome to get to the Main Hospital in Roseau. If persons are sick, they can easily get transportation to come here.” She gently holds a toddler’s head while another nurse puts drops of medicine into his eyes.

malisa Joseph, a young mother, has been coming here for about five years. She sits in the large waiting room under whirring ceiling fans, rocking her newborn baby. “Since the renovations, it’s a lot cooler in here now; more spacious.” Her four-year old son Marcus interrupts. “Noah Edmund!” he says proudly, pointing to the baby boy in her arms. Malisa laughs. “Yes, your brother. He’s six weeks tomorrow.” She’s here for a postnatal check up. A nurse in training takes her blood pressure and weighs baby Noah who is surprisingly calm, lying comfortably on his back on a scale in one of the new blue examining rooms. “We have almost gotten to the point where we’ve finished renovating the Centre,” Nurse Shillingford shares, “Now we can deliver improved care.”

Nearby, in the heart of the village, kunta, born alston noel, leans on his staff and sits down on a tree trunk in an open space. “A legend of St. Joseph, creator of kadanse, just died. His name was Jeff Joseph. He was not only a musician; he was a humanist, because he cared for people.” People hail Kunta as they pass by: young women on their way to the bakery or all-in-one corner shops, men transporting goods on loud trucks to other parts of the island, a father meeting his daughter on her way home from school, young men playing dominoes, sharing chicken back and neck soup from a battered iron pot over an open fire and dancing in memory of Jeff Jo.

Owani, ten years old, stops by. He has been to the Health Centre a few times for a bad knee. Now he greets Kunta and keeps walking home in his still bright white uniform; his bookbag carried safely on his back. Kunta puts the feeling into words: “The Health Centre is very important for the community and for the society, because it helps a lot of people. Hats off to the people that take their time, even though they are not from Dominica, and invest. It’s a great thing. The people of St. Joseph respect it and they love it. Big love.”

HEALTH CENTRE REHABILITATION

$US10K

lUsCa bedminister mortgage loan reCipient

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COMING HOMElusca bedminister is at her second job, preparing local Dominican cuisine at “Patos”, her friend Patricia’s restaurant in Roseau. Although she’s tired, she still greets us with a smile. “I’m also a caregiver at the Dominica Infirmary. We look after the elderly, bathe them, feed them, take care of them. I’ve been in the job for 22 years and it’s a job I love because I love dealing with people.”

“It’s a while now that I wanted to build my own home but, looking for funding, some other institutions turned me down. When I went to the AID Bank they helped me. I wanted to build my own place because as you get older, you cannot be paying rent all the time, so you have to try to improve yourself. I have four kids: two boys, two girls. My youngest is at the Dominica Grammar School, 16 years old. The other three are employed, they work, but they live with me. I’m also a grandmother. I have a beautiful little granddaughter.”

Her face lights up against the backdrop of the restaurant’s red and gold Christmas decorations. “I moved into my home in 2004, on the 22nd of December. That Christmas was wonderful for me because I was comfortable in my own home with my family. Thank God for the Aid Bank. It was a wonderful feeling to have a roof over your head and to know that you are living in your own home. It was built to withstand hurricanes, with a concrete roof. I believe that it is strong enough because we passed one or two hurricanes there and nothing happened to us. Also, the way it’s built I can add a second storey that I can rent out in the future.”

“My mother never had the chance to build her own home. So my family was glad that I could do something better for myself.” After work, Lusca walks down the hill to her house, sheltering from the rain. The walls are painted turquoise. Inside everything is polished, clean, and ready for this year’s Christmas. And the flowering houseplants she loves, continue to grow.

Kingshill

LINES OF CREDIT TO FINANCELOW INCOME MORTGAGES

$US2.3M

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LEARNING POTENTIALmarese Joseph always wanted to study medicine. Her parents did their best to support her. “But in high school I changed my mind for financial reasons.” She decided to study nursing instead. “I still wanted to do something in the medical field, because I love taking care of people.” Very soon, however, her parents could no longer afford the fees for her Associate’s degree at the Dominica State College. Someone told her about the student loans available from the CDB through the Dominica AID Bank. “It was different to other banks.” For one, “the interest rates were much lower - affordable to me as a student.”

“I really don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t get this loan.” Marese is one of many students in the Eastern Caribbean who do not have the funds to continue their education. CDB funds step in to make it possible. “Now I work at the hospital in Marigot. And it’s amazing to see people leave so much better than they came in. One of my patients had several abdominal surgeries. There were complications and she had to come back to the hospital. She was really down. We thought she wouldn’t make it… Two weeks ago, I met her in town walking about. She hugged me! She’s up and about, traveling, doing what she has to do. That’s what I love about nursing. She has her life back.”

“I graduated in November 2007 and my parents were happy and overwhelmed. I’m the first nurse in my father’s family. Everyone was so excited, including my younger siblings. From the first year I started, with all the financial struggles, to see that I had done it, graduated, it was a big accomplishment. Still, I know I have further to go. Initially I thought a Bachelor’s degree would be too taxing financially. Now I want to complete my BSc and train as a midwife and Family Nurse Practitioner.”

In her hometown of Calibishie, and throughout Dominica, other young people face the same challenges. “I’ve recommended other friends now to the Aid Bank,” Marese says confidently. “I’m 28 years old and I’m the eldest daughter in the family. The sister after me loves animals and wants to become a vet. I hope she can have the same opportunities I did, or better. Now I am in a position to help.”

Calibishie

LINES OF CREDIT TO FINANCESTUDENT LOANS

$US11.5M


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The CDB’s Borrowing Member Countries are challenged by their vulnerability to external shocks and natural hazard events which, to a significant degree, is derived from their small physical and economic size. The impact of this vulnerability together with global trends towards trade liberalisation and the erosion of trade preferences have compelled BMCs to develop strategies for medium-term economic transformation and sustainable growth, poverty reduction and to strengthen their resilience to shocks and natural hazard events. BMCs’ capacity to implement these plans is severely constrained by already large fiscal deficits and high levels of public indebtedness. It is recognised that BMCs would need the assistance of CDB and other development partners (DPs) to mobilise the significant amount of financial resources, both concessionary and non-concessionary, that would be required to pursue their development objective. The CDB, in collaboration with other developing partners and BMCs is committed to working towards the systematic reduction of poverty in BMCs through social and economic development.

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CDB IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA - Home ... IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA PARTNERING FOR POVERTY REDUCTION CONTENTS MEMBERSHIP Based in Barbados, the Caribbean Development Bank