June 1 marked the start of the 2021 hurricane season, and the Office Pf Disaster Management is urging all Dominicans to be prepared at all times by putting the necessary plans in place to protect their family and properties.

“The ODM encourages the public to be prepared for the hurricane season and any other hazards given Dominica’s vulnerability to multiple hazards. Some preparedness actions that are recommended are: Prepare a family emergency plan. Write down the details including evacuation needs, shelter needs, and assign responsibility for persons in your household such as who is going to pack the emergency kit, who is responsible for transportation etc. Create a communication plan which is a list of important numbers, contact details of family members, schools, work, and health care and emergency support agencies. Identify an agreed location within and outside your neighborhood to regroup should a family be separated during an emergency. Pack your family emergency kit and remember to include masks, sanitizers, non-perishable food, water, medication and a battery operated radio,” stated National Disaster Coordinator, Mr. Fitzroy Pascal.

Mr. Pascal urges the public to ensure that they have adequate insurance to cover hurricane hazard related damage. He says being prepared is key to minimize damage to your properties.

“Inspect your home and property, identify and take steps to address issues that could increase your exposure resulting in damage of property and loss of life such as faulty windows and doors, compromised roofs, poor drainage around the house, and importantly trim overhanging trees that could increase impact on your home. Being prepared is key regardless of the number of storms predicted, because as we know it only takes one system to set us back. Keep the guidelines for covid-19 in mind and take your personal supplies with you if you must go to a shelter. When evacuation orders are given, or if you determine that you are in danger in your location, leave home before severe weather activity begins,” Mr. Pascal explained.

Meanwhile, Acting Senior Meteorological Officer, Mr. Marshall Alexander, says the met services is ready for the 2021 hurricane season.

“We have coordination with the Barbados Met Service and the National Hurricane Center when there is threat but this time around we will be doing Google Meet to have discussions with the Barbados Met Service and the National hurricane Season.  So we in Dominica will be part of this discussion and the final word in terms of a decision to be taken will be done by the Met Service. So if there is discussion that a watch or warning may be issued out based on the discussion the Dominica Met Service will be the one with the final say in terms of issuance for Dominica,” Mr. Alexander added.

Dominicans suffering with severe heart conditions have easier access to cardiovascular care on island as the Dominica China Friendship Hospital opened its new cardiology department last Friday.

This comes as the first step in the development of a fully equipped cardiology unit with more sophisticated equipment at the DCFH.

The new department comes equipped with twenty four hour halter monitoring, eliminating the need for patients to travel overseas to get such procedures done. Other amenities include a twenty four hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; external pacemaker capabilities, echocardiograms and the latest twelve lead ECG technology.

Minister for Health, Wellness and New Health Investment Hon. Dr. Irving McIntyre views the recent addition as a milestone for Dominica’s health care system.

“We the Ministry of Health and the Government, we are really pleased and we are really grateful to our friendly Governments particularly the Chinese and the lso the Cubans. This fits in very well with the Dominica China friendship Hospital and we are really pleased and we are very grateful to the people of China for helping us start off our new Cardiology Department. From here we can only see things getting better and better and this is the growth and development of not just our secondary and tertiary health system but just a better service for all the people of Dominica. It just makes life better and more productive,” Dr. McIntyre stated.

The Minister thanked cardiologists Dr. Dexi Wu from the Chinese Technical Assistance Team and Dominica’s own cardiologist Dr. Rachel Andrew for their proactive and dedicated efforts toward this new addition.

“We’re really pleased at the Ministry of Health because we can just see how gradually we are getting to where we want to be. But what we also have to appreciate the fact that we have persons like Dr. Andrew and Dr. Wu and the dedication that they put into taking the initiative and looking at the bigger picture. So today we are planting a seed and our children and grandchildren will reap the benefits of this,” Dr. McIntyre added.

Cardiologists Dr. Wu and Dr. Andrew made history when they successfully implanted the first temporary pacemaker to resuscitate a critically ill patient who suffered a severe bradycardia (very low heart rate).

According to Dr. Rachel Andrew, the surgical procedure was a major success with the patient stabilized and resting comfortably in the new intensive care unit at the hospital.

“We also had historic moment in which Dr. Wu and myself thanks to the donation by our Chinese friends, implanted the first temporary pacemaker. Our patient is currently stable in the ICU and we are very happy for that,” Dr. Andrew revealed.

Historic patient Miss Louisa Simon was admitted at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital on May 7, 2021 with a condition diagnosed as an Acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) and complete atrioventricular block. Her condition was assessed as life threatening and a decision was taken by the cardiology team to implant the temporary pacemaker - donated by the people’s republic of china - to restore her heartbeat to normalcy.

“Thank God for the doctors. I am the first and I hope I will not be the last one. I thank God for the doctor and I wish God give him long life,” Ms. Simon stated.

Arrangements are currently being finalized for the transfer of the patient to an overseas facility for a higher level of invasive cardiac intervention not currently available at the hospital.

Minister for Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence, Hon Octavia Alfred is encouraging readers to take an interest in local content.

Minister Alfred says over the years we have seen the emergence of Dominican writers who are producing pieces of fiction and poetry.

“As Ministry, we need to take a look at incorporating more of these into our reading schedules at schools and I encourage the library to seek these writers out and stock our libraries with their own work. This is another way we can promote and preserve our culture similarly to the initiatives we are launching in our schools to promote the speaking of our creole language,” Honourable Alfred stated.

The National Cultural Council, Division of Culture in collaboration with the Ministry Of Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence continue their efforts to enhance the creole language among students.

The eleventh annual Primary Schools Kweyol Spelling Bee Competition was hosted on Wednesday May 19 2021. The Kweyol Spelling Bee got underway this year with representation from nine primary schools namely the Castle Bruce Primary, the Baroness Patricia Scotland Primary, Ebenezer Seventh Day Adventist Primary, Newtown Primary, Penville Primary, Roosevelt Douglas Primary, St. Luke’s Primary, Woodfordhill Primary and the Atkinson Primary.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence, Mrs. Chandler Hyacinth says the Ministry will continue to support this initiative and play their role to preserve the Kweyol Language as part of Dominica’s culture.

“Our Creole language is celebrated in so many different ways whether it is htrough our creole festivals, our songs, our music, our school activities, teaching our students words and phrases, all contribute towards the uplifting and the preservation of our cultural traditions. We within the Ministry of Education recognize that we have a huge responsibility, we have a huge role to play in instilling pride, orienting mindsets and changing perspectives on the value of creole,” Mrs. Hyacinth stated.

Mrs. Hyacinth has encouraged all schools and education leaders to join in the support of these initiatives as the Ministry seeks to expose students to the creole language, noting that “there are many benefits to us as a people pursuing all efforts to preserve this creole language.”

Komite pou etid Kweyol (KEK) alongside the Division of Culture started a pilot project over two years ago to teach creole in primary schools.

Chief Cultural Officer, Mr. Raymond Lawrence hopes to achieve an expansion of this project to all schools on island. He says the creole language being promoted today will help to communicate with Dominica’s creole speaking neighbors, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

“The language is helping us to communicate easier with our neighboring islands as well as the Haitians who are here with us in Dominica. The creole language has been a part of the roots of our culture, in that it has formed a basis for many of our folk songs, oral traditions and the lavway for one of our main traditional dances the Bele. The creole language has influenced our Cadence music and the Bouyoun and it now features as part of our radio and television news and programming. And we are now hoping that together with the Ministry of Education, we can build on further inclusion of the language in our schools, our national curriculum and give greater exposure and promotion to this beautiful language,” Mr. Lawrence stated.  

Meantime, Chief Judge for the Kweyol Spelling Bee, Mrs. Delia Cuffy-Weekes says this year has been her toughest year of judging. Mrs. Cuffy-Weekes believes that all the participants performed to the best of their ability.

“Speaking creole, listening to creole and spelling creole are different things. The spelling of creole doesn’t use the Standard English alphabet and the children handles that greatly. One of the things that gives a lot of problems is the accent and I felt that they had it down to the science. So we have to congratulate the students and the people who prepared them, the teachers, their parents and their peers I would think,” Mrs. Cuffy-Weekes added.

Nahimelle Azard of the St. Luke’s Primary School emerged the winner of the 2021 Kweyol Spelling Bee Competition. She was followed by Jahiem Sango of the Baroness Patricia Scotland Primary School and in third place Kheanellia Barrie of the Atkinson Primary.

Since the inception of the Kweyol Spelling Bee Competition in 2010, the organizers have hosted the competition every year with the exception of 2020 due to the surfacing of the ongoing covid 19 pandemic. The first Kweyol Spelling Bee winner was awarded to Kenya Aley of the St. Joseph primary school. The Paix Bouche Primary School has also managed to secure six wins thus far.