I was driving up the winding road to the north of the island today, and you'll never guess what I saw—three dead cats ( at different places along the way) just lying there squashed on the asphalt :( It was such a sad sight, you know! I mean, were they someone's pets or strays? Could this have been avoided if people had adhered to the national 20 mph speed limit around here? Have people no patience to allow the cats to just cross the road?!
These days, I've been in a whole different "slow living" kind of mood—just really trying to savour each moment and take in all the beauty around me. I started working on this post back in January, editing it whenever inspiration struck. It's still a work in progress, but I'm just embracing the journey instead of stressing over perfection.
This whole "slowing down" thing has been a recurring theme for me lately - whether I'm behind the wheel or sitting down to write and work. It's just one of those lessons that keeps coming back to me. So I slow down, I put what I love up front and centre, family and my art, and then the business plays more of a supporting role —and largely that business has a lot more to do with what Courtney Romano describes as,
" rigourous independent thinking. And valuing the collective, the collaboration, as the end game.”
Anyway, let's dive into my New Year assignment together, shall we? 👇🏽
Project: Women and Girls Coastal Stewardship and Wellness Initiative
Timeline: Q1 2025
Goal: Collaborate with at-risk women and girls, sports, youth, or community groups to steward a coastline for one year in Antigua and Barbuda, with plans to expand to neighboring islands like St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and the Grenadines.
Welcome to Barbuda!
Barbuda, a flat coral limestone island, is no higher than 60 m in the east, but it has a large coastal lagoon once enclosed by a long sand spit in the west. The island boasts salt ponds and one of the world’s largest colony of Frigatebirds. This idyllic island deserves protection and celebration, and it has captured the hearts of ordinary folks and celebrities alike, including Robert De Niro.
The Challenges
Barbuda's coastal ecosystems face numerous threats. Here’s a quick snapshot of the challenges:
-Waste Infrastructure: Limited waste management hampers environmental health.
- Hurricane Devastation: Hurricane Irma's aftermath in 2017 breached the Codrington Lagoon, causing long-term ecological damage and risk to the islands’ critical nursery habitat for lobster, conch and fish. These species thrive in the lagoon and only migrate to the outside reefs and seagrass beds as adults.
- Population Dynamics: With a small population of ~3,000, local life becomes deeply political and nuanced.
- Lack of a Sustainable Development Plan: There is no central sustainable development plan, which complicates the roadmap to resilient prosperity for local people.
-Balancing development and tourism: There is a need for mitigating various risks associated with tourism development, including environmental, social, cultural and even safety risks.
This context is important in understanding the dynamics at play as we, ‘outsiders’, attempt to design projects and plan that prioritizes the collective future of Barbuda's people.
Collaborating across islands
Recognizing the urgent need for new opportunities for women and girls in Barbuda, Adoptacoastline, a leading Caribbean-based organization in coastal stewardship, partnered with GEF funding to establish the Women and Girls Coastal Stewardship and Wellness Initiative. As a blue economy advisor to the project, I'm always pleased to support community-based initiatives that generate both marine environmental benefits and socio-economic benefits.
From my experience promoting the blue economy at the community level, I believe in the power of knowledge exchanges and collaborative relationships between islands. In fact, during 2016-2019, I cross-pollinated Kids Ocean Club Fish ’N Fins Inc. to Barbuda Go in collaboration with the Waitt Institute, ensuring the locally-led sustainable development of the program.
So, our journey to " Keep Barbuda Beautiful" continued on January 3, 2025, with a leisurely "listening tour," engaging with local women, girls, community leaders, and organizations to understand their priorities, concerns, and aspirations. We had no formal meetings or written agenda, and we simply met at their convenience. This organic process helped to ensure that the initiative truly addressed the community's needs.
By pure chance, we connected with Allyson Trunzer and her family business, Uncle Roddy's Beach Bar and Grill!Allyson runs the Future Project in Barbuda and facilitates a class at Sir McChesney George Secondary School. Meeting Allyson allowed us to connect with over 30 teenagers eager to join the program. The energy of the younger generation, supported by a dynamic group of Barbudan women, laid the groundwork for long-term sustainability and future engagement.
Expanding the Reach: Partnerships and Prioritized Sites
Together with Founder Jennifer Meranto, we identified key partners and local experts in Barbuda to work with, aligning our activities with their missions. Here’s what unfolded:
1. Barbuda Council: Key stakeholders in the "Keep Barbuda Beautiful" project, led by Nadia Harris (Head of Tourism and Culture) and Devon Warner (Chair Barbuda Council and Member Barbuda Fisheries Association). They will oversee activities at the River Dock - the island’s main port of entry - collaborating with youth stewards for ongoing stewardship and waste management.
2. The B Foundation: Focused on community development, led by Jenita Cuffy and youth steward Kaylean Williams. They kicked off their mission with a community cleanup on February 1st, intending to beautify the Wharf area ( a central community swim and chill spot) and create a gathering spot for the elderly.
3. BarbudaGo: This women-led organization, co-founded by Cleo Issac and Asha Frank, is restoring the
Low Pond area — the natural spring, provided water for domestic use and for animals. It was surrounded by a beautiful stone wall, built in the 18th century. A once bustling community hotspot, over time, became overgrown, the water unfit for use, and the area, sadly, was used for illegal dumping and unsafe disposal of human waste.
We scheduled a significant collaborative cleanup on World Earth Day, April 22nd, to include the adjacent mangroves and wharf.
4. Future Project Barbuda: Partnering with schools and youth, led by Allyson Trunzer. We supported their fruit forest project by engaging a student and his grandfather to provide slips for ongoing planting of fruit-bearing plants and scheduled workshops for art students to launch a circular economy project later this year.
An agenda to continue cleanups and beautify high-priority ecological/recreational areas was created for Q1 &Q2, and on January 8, 2025, we successfully launched a group cleanup at the River Dock, attracting 50 participants and empowering 21 youth stewards.
Creative Reflections: Trash Art from Barbuda
📸 My Trash Photos: As part of my creative approach to raising awareness about waste management, I captured a few photos of our trip. Who knew this would be so much fun!
I hope each image reflects the beauty and the challenges of our coastline, sparking conversation and inspiring action. ✨
Ready to Make an Impact?
Together, let’s show the world the power of community and the difference we can make when we all take action. Remember, every small step contributes to the larger goal of protecting our coastlines and nurturing our communities.
So, how will you show up today? Let’s get started and inspire each other to keep our coasts beautiful and our communities thriving! 🌿
Cool Tools We Used on Adopt a Coastline Cleanups✨
Side note: Rosie Bags products are excellent compared to the compostable alternatives we buy in the supermarkets. But, they must've closed because I tried contacting them but couldn't. My next best alternatives are old school bags, what we call locally, "croucous bags," or dog/cat feed bags.
Conclusion: A Journey Worth Sharing
As I reflect on my time in Barbuda, this is more than just a project; it's a shared journey toward healing our environment and empowering communities. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to work closely with Jennifer Meranto, and support her vision. Her words resonate deeply within me:
“It was a phenomenally positive experience working with Veta on our project launch in Barbuda. Not only is she organized, intelligent, hard-working, and focused with a wide array of skill sets, but she is sensitive to the needs of others and delightful to travel with.”
— Jennifer Meranto
In this spirit, we invite you to walk alongside us. Imagine a future where every community thrives and every coastline is cared for. What role will you play in this vision?
To learn more about Adoptacoastline, visit their website: www.adoptcoastline.org, or read the Adoptacoastline case study here.
P.S. Please help me improve my writing 🙏
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