Last week I had the pleasure and honor of leading a group of folks on a yoga and meditation retreat on Dominica. Known as the “nature island of the Caribbean,” this 300 square mile mountainous gem has only 70,000 citizens. Dominica’s indigenous people are known as the Kalinago, and the Caribbean's only remaining population of these pre-Columbian Carib Indians inhabit a 3,700 acre reserve on Dominica. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, and they brought African slaves. Eventually the island fell under the rule of the British Empire. Having gained independence from Britain in 1978, Dominica is now its own independent nation with African, Creole, and European influences still evident.
Dominica is currently the least untouched by human development of all the Caribbean islands. It truly is a tropical paradise, with lush jungle foliage, bright tropical flowers, abundant rainbows, plenty of locally grown fruit and vegetables, tons of lizards, a population of sperm whales, a famous coral reef, a steady warm breeze, and incredible views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. While we all enjoyed the beauty and adventure the island offered us (snorkling! whale watching! hiking!) we mostly fell in love with the people of Dominica, and in particular those we spent the most time with at the beautiful Jungle Bay resort, our home away from home for the week. (To see pictures of our trip visit our Instagram page @satsangyogaberea).
The Dominicans we spent time with are friendly, kind, generous, warm-hearted, and loving people. They are resilient, committed to caring for Mother Earth, and dedicated to uplifting others. They support sustainable eco-tourism as well as educating their young people about the traditional herbal medicines and foods-as-medicine on the island. They are proud of their island and their heritage, and the folks who work at Jungle Bay are very proud (as they should be) of the high quality service they provide to their guests.
Dominica—while it is a paradise—like all places, has its challenges. Poverty, as with so many developing countries, is very apparent. Also, nine of the live (or likely to erupt again) volcanoes in the Caribbean are found on Dominica. Another major challenge are hurricanes. The original Jungle Bay was located on the Atlantic side of the island, and it was completely destroyed by a mudslide when the island took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Maria in 2017. Maria damaged or destroyed a staggering 95% of Dominica’s housing stock and 226% of the nations GDP. Prior to the storm, the country's economy had struggled since its independence from Britain. Everyone I spoke to on the island about Maria had not evacuated. They all spoke of the terror of that long night, about how they lost everything or most everything, and each said after the storm it took at least two weeks to learn the fate of their loved ones — roads were blocked and communications were down. Boats were the only way to travel to the other side of the island.
It is incredible that the new Jungle Bay opened for business only two years later in 2019 on the Caribbean side of the island. The developer of Jungle Bay is Samuel Raphael (pictured above), a Dominican committed to uplifting the people of his country. And he cares deeply for his staff. Rather than a Human Resources director, for example, the resort employs a Human Development director. The majority of staff are local folks, and everyone I spoke to were trained for their position by Jungle Bay. They take great pride in the resort and in their community, collectively giving 10% of their tips to a very important project: the rebuilding of the preschool that was destroyed by Hurricane Maria (preschool children pictured above).
I was so inspired by the people of Dominica and of the Jungle Bay resort that I wanted to do something as well to help them with rebuilding their preschool and offered to do some fundraising for that cause when I got back to the studio. In 2017, the preschool serving the villages of Soufriere, Scotts Head, and Gallion was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. This left the youth with no place to go except to the basement of a church where the teachers now have to pack up evenings prior to prayer service and also each weekend before church services. It is highly disruptive to have to move all the time. Furthermore, the children (ages 2-4) have no playground or safe play area besides a semi-outdoor small concrete square. Jungle Bay staff and management are committed to helping contribute to the development of a new preschool for the teachers and for the 23 preschool kids. More children will also be able to register once the facility is built because it will offer more space for additional attendees. The Jungle Bay Early Childhood Development Centre will offer youth in southwest Dominica essential learning opportunities and an improved place to grow. The fundraising goal is $100,000 US dollars, and they are 1/3 of the way to the goal. 100% of all donations go directly to the school—there are no administrative fees taken.
If you’re inspired to help rebuild the preschool, we’ve got a fundraising event in the works that will include yoga and food! Stay tuned for more information! If you’d like to make a donation prior to the fundraiser, we can take cash at the studio which I’ll then send on to Jungle Bay electronically. For credit card payments, we’ll need to know the amount in USD you’d like to donate and then I’ll request a direct credit card payment link from Jungle Bay. (Unfortunately GoFundMe isn’t an option for Dominica.)
This month’s Jivamukti focus-of-the-month essay is about the five kleshas, or obstacles, to the state of Yoga—the state of enlightenment, aka the realization of the Oneness of Being. The first of these obstacles (and the one from which the others stem) is known in Sanskrit as avidya, or ignorance. What we are ignorant of is our true Self and the Oneness of Being. For the most part we live under the illusion of separateness in the state of duality. The state of Yoga is the state of Union, of Wholeness. When we begin to realize that we are all one and that there is only One source, we become more compassionate. We choose to act more selflessly and less selfishly. We want to alleviate the suffering of others. My teacher Sharon Gannon says that the best thing we can do to uplift our own lives is to do all we can to uplift the lives of others. Our actions always have a ripple effect. Through our intentional, mindful, selfless service to others, we create positive ripples, the effects of which we may never know but which may change a life or even the world. Let’s work together to create positive change for the children and the future of Dominica! As Sharon also says, "With great Love all is possible."
Blessings & Love,
Sharada Devi
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