We asked our people what makes you happy...

Veta Wade and Maya Greenhill 2016 (Barbuda) - Fish 'n Fins Ocean Camp

At our first general meeting of the year ( 25th Janurar, 2026) , we asked a simple question across ages 8–70+:

“What really makes you happy and brings you joy?”

We listened to 11 people who are deeply involved with Fish'n Fins—youth, parents, elders, local volunteers, and a long‑time returning visitor—and grouped their answers into five main “joy drivers.” This is a small, qualitative snapshot of our inner circle, not a statistically representative survey of Montserrat.

Within this group there are different income realities: some are local Montserratians with fragile, seasonal, or informal income in XCD dollars; some are long‑term residents or expats whose financial security is partly anchored in external (often USD) income; and one is a regular visitor who returns to Montserrat on holiday each year and experiences the island differently again. That mix shapes how people talk about money, purpose, and giving back—but the patterns are still very clear and useful for how we design Fish 'n Fins over the next three years. Our initial Joy Map (core circle, n = 11)

Joy Map of what brings Fish ‘n Fins community members happiness, based on general meeting responses.

You can think of this as our first Joy Map: a small, honest picture of what happiness looks like for the people closest to this work:

• Income & valuing time: mentioned by 5 people

• Purpose & giving back: mentioned by 5 people

• Sea & turtles / being in the water: mentioned by 3 people

• Family & community connection: mentioned by 3 people

• Learning & curiosity: mentioned by 1 person

We will continue to add to this Joy Map over time by asking the same question of more youth, parents, and elders each term, but we are already using the first 11 answers to guide our planning.

What our inner circle told us:

• Dignified income and valuing time

• Almost half of the respondents explicitly named money, paid work, or being valued for their time and knowledge as central to their happiness.

• For local youth and elders whose income is primarily in XCD dollars and closely tied to Montserrat’s small economy, “money” often means basic security and the ability to stay on island and still live with dignity.

• A teenager wants to “work and get paid” and “stay busy and productive.” An elder fisher wants his knowledge recognised and paid for over time, not just with food or a one‑day “thank you.”

• Sea, turtles, and being in the water as mental health

• Children and teenagers described the sea, beach, and swimming with turtles as where they feel happiest and most at peace, especially when they are upset.

• A recurring visitor named breathing underwater with turtles and time in the sea as central to her mental health and sense of joy when she is on Montserrat.

• For this core group, the ocean functions as both an educational setting and a key part of their emotional wellbeing.

  
  

Purpose, giving back, and family

• Several people—both locals and people with external security—described joy in terms of “being well, giving back, supporting good causes, and spending time with family.”

• A mother cried as she shared her desire to live out her purpose here in Montserrat while being well and giving back to her community and to God, even as she questions whether that’s fully possible within the current local constraints.

Learning and curiosity

One elder fisher highlighted the joy of being able to research and keep learning online, even as changing sea conditions make fishing less reliable.

How this shapes Fish ‘n Fins’ 3‑year plan

We are treating this as a baseline listening exercise to guide immediate, internal design decisions:

Piloting paid, purpose‑driven roles in our core circle

• Youth: create paid entry‑level roles (logistics, gear, in‑water assistants, administration) for core youth, starting with small payments and building toward fair wages as funding grows.

• Elders: establish part‑time paid roles for local knowledge holders (for example, experienced fishers) on simple contracts, at respectful, market‑aware rates—not permanent token “stipends.”

• Volunteers: define and, where possible, pay for core safeguarding, teaching, and coordination roles, reducing reliance on invisible, unpaid labour—especially for those whose income is entirely local and insecure.

Treating sea‑time and wellbeing as explicit outcomes

• Add simple wellbeing indicators (for example: “I feel calmer / more hopeful after being in the sea with Fish 'n Fins”) to our monitoring tools and report them alongside academic and conservation outcomes.

• Repeat the “What makes you happy?” question each quarter to see whether and how our work contributes to people’s joy and sense of purpose across different income realities, including locals, residents, and recurring visitors.

Seeking long‑term, relationship‑based support

• Prioritise multi‑year, flexible funding that allows us to sustain paid roles and wellbeing activities for this core circle first, particularly for local community members whose livelihoods are most precarious, then extend opportunities to more people.

• We are clear that stipends are only a bridge, not the destination. The goal is wages, salaries, and professional fees that reflect the real value of conservation, education, and community knowledge work, particularly in a small island context where XCD incomes are often fragile and external currencies dominate.

Including my wellbeing

These insights apply to mee too. One of the answers in this circle is my own: being valued for my time and worth, having space to reset, travel and create, and not carrying the whole system on my back.

For the next three years, any plan for Fish 'n Fins must also protect my wellbeing, income, and creative space. If that line is not funded, the activity does not proceed at full scale. As funding grows, our target is to move from small, bridging payments into proper salary and professional rates for the founder and other core roles. This is professional conservation work, not charity—and our budgets now reflect that.

For partners, this Joy & Wellbeing snapshot is not a full community survey. It is a grounded look at what our inner circle—including (me) the founder—says a good life looks like, across different income realities and relationships to the island. Supporting Fish 'n Fins means investing in this community‑defined vision: paid, purposeful work rooted in the sea, space for mental health and family, and the ability to keep giving back without burning out the people at the centre.

How you can stand with this small but honest Joy Map

If this picture of joy resonates with you—paid, purposeful, sea‑rooted and community‑held—share this with someone who needs to hear real voices.

This first Joy Map comes from just 11 people, with very different income realities and relationships to Montserrat, but their words cut through a lot of jargon. If you know someone in a position of influence who talks about ‘Sustaainable Development Goals’ and wants to listen to communities more, send this to them – and invite them to listen to The Blue Zone on ZJB, starting Feb 9th , 11am - noon AST. It’s where we sit with what our people actually say makes them happy, and explore the real blue economy money moves that honour that joy instead of erasing it.