BUSINESS & LIFE- Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary Dominica  

Today, November 3, 2014, Dominica celebrates 36 years of Independence.  It is also 521 years since Columbus discovered Dominica!  So here I am wishing Dominica, the Blessings I bestow on my family, friends and loved ones:  May the Lord Bless and Keep Dominica! May the Lord Shine His Face and Be Gracious to Dominica a! May the Lord Uncover His Face and Grant Dominica His Peace!

I, on my behalf and VF Inc congratulate all those who are recognised and receiving awards today, especially Dr. Hendricks Paul, who has served Dominica selflessly over the years and I am so happy he is receiving this award while he is still alive to know how much his contribution has meant to us; Mrs Jennifer Lafond, my first form teacher whom I loved dearly and who over the years have become a friend and Mr. Don Leogall, who has kept the spirit of Harlem alive amidst many challenges.  I also congratulate all winners of the Independence Season competitions including Madam Wob Dwiyet, Ms Gweneth Lazarre; her talent took us back in time, Miss Wob Dwiyet, Ms Merlyjah Benjamin and the Independence Song winner.

I love Dominica!  No matter how often I travel, when it is time to come home, there is a joy and excitement and flying over Dominica, my heart swells with pride, joy and peace.  Many years ago, when I was leaving Dominica to study in England, I bought a T-shirt, which read, “No matter where I roam, Dominica will always remain my home!”  And this is so true.  Dominica is and will always remain my home.  I have lived outside of Dominica however I have never forgotten my home and I always ensured I returned at least once a year.  Yes, I returned for family, friends and loved ones, but I also returned for Dominica.  Dominica is where I belong!  I think it is King Karresah who has a line in one of his songs, “Some of us just have to stay at home.”

This year, we are celebrating our 36^th Independence Anniversary under the theme, “Our Nation, Our Responsibility.”  I think this theme is very fitting considering that within the next year, an election must be held.  Some may argue that we are already in the election season.  Some call it the “silly season,” for during an election campaign we sometimes forget that our responsibility still remains to and for our Nation.  What is our responsibility to our Nation? Our responsibility, I believe, is to be good citizens.  What does being a good citizen mean?  It means, in the words made famous by US President John F Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you; instead ask, what can you do for your country?”  This answer is as vague as the answer it preceded.  I will attempt to make sense of this answer.

What can we do for Dominica?  We can first acknowledge and accept that we are fiduciaries who owe a duty of care to our Nation to always work in her best interest, ahead of self and other gains.  Secondly, we need to appreciate and recognise that Dominica is our home and we have a responsibility to keep her clean and to preserve her natural beauty.  We have a responsibility to conserve and engage in sustainable development to ensure that the next generations find a land where they can live peacefully and safely, where the effects of climate change are minimised or reversed.

We have a responsibility to Dominica to be our best selves; to discover what we are best at, what our purpose is, and to work towards achieving and living our purpose and in so doing serve and be of service to Dominica.  We are meant to be role models for others and to in the words of Martin Luther King “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.  You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.  You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace.  A soul generated by love.”  We are to make our contribution, no matter how big or small.  We are not to compare ourselves with others but focus on being our best.  And still relying on Martin Luther King Jr, “If you can’t fly then run; if you can’t run then walk; if you cant walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”  This demands that we have a responsibility to never give up, to keep trying no matter what.  It also appreciates that we do not all have the same abilities, talents, disposition, however, we all can do something and whatever it is we are good at, we are to serve in that capacity giving it our all.

We owe a responsibility to Dominica to respect each other.  We are different, we have different gifts and talents, we serve in different capacities, we belong to different political parties, however, all our contributions are important and needed, and we need to understand and accept that we are all Dominicans, with a right to be here and to serve.  I believe we are becoming a less tolerant society, especially of those we consider different.  When I visited Jamaica in the late 1980’s and I lived in St. Kitts in the mid to late 1990’s, I found a society very divided along party politics line, and I would say with pride that Dominica was not like that.  I would say that Dominicans took their politics seriously and would campaign intensely however after the elections, we went back to being Dominicans.  Sadly, in my view, we have lost that.  We have become so politically divided that we are experiencing a level of incivility never seen before.  We have a responsibility to recognise that Dominica is more important than any political party and we have a responsibility to put Dominica first.

We owe a responsibility to Dominica to ensure our leaders, in Government, Opposition, Clergy and social govern well; that they uphold the principles of good governance, which includes integrity, transparency and accountability.  Our leaders however are a reflection of us, and so we are to be prepared to live by the same standards to which we hold our leaders.  We are to hold our leaders to account for without accountability there will be no performance.  It is often said that a people get the leaders/government they deserve, and this saying demonstrates and confirms the saying that our leaders are a reflection of we, the people.

We owe a responsibility to our Nation to be our brothers’ and sisters‘ keeper.  We are to encourage and support those who are doing well and help those who are falling or have fallen by the wayside.  We owe Dominica a responsibility to see and discover the good in each other and use the good to address our weaknesses.  We owe Dominica a responsibility to learn from the lesson of the Geese.  The geese fly in a V formation so that the leadership is rotated and those at the back honk to encourage the ones at the front to keep going and the wing span of those of the front provides lift for those at the back.  In event a goose fall ill, two geese travel with it and either nurse it back to health or bury it if it dies.  Then the geese goes back to join its flock or travels with another flock until its destination when it finds its flock.  There are some fundamental lessons in that story.

There are many other responsibilities, however, an adaptation of the words of Saint Teresa of Avila, and applying it to Dominica: captures the wide-ranging responsibility we owe to our Nation:

“Dominica has no body but ours, No hands, no feet on earth but ours.
Ours are the eyes, through which she looks compassion on her people,

Ours are the feet with which she walks to do good. Ours are he hands with which She blesses her people.  Ours are her hands, ours are her feet, ours are her eyes, ours are her body.  Dominica has no body now but ours.”

Our responsibility is to serve and be of service to Dominica; our responsibility is to be our best selves and to encourage others to do the same; our responsibility is to always put Dominica first; to love, care and cherish, our Nation, Dominica, Waitikubuli; to keep her body forever tall, and not bowed in disappointment, shame or disgrace.  Our responsibility is to keep the flag of Dominica flying high with joy, peace, prosperity and happiness.

The third stanza of our National Anthem also sums our responsibility beautifully:

“Come ye forward sons and daughters

Of this gem beyond compare,

Strive for honour, sons and daughters,

Do the right, be firm, be fair

Toil with hearts and hands and voices,

We must prosper! Sound the call

In which ev’ryone rejoices,

All for Each and Each for All.”

I can be reached at [email protected] or Tel: 767 449 9649.

Until we meet again, May the Lord Keep Us in the Palm of His Hands.  Blessings Aplenty!