Long-term Resilience Building in Dominica

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria tore through Dominica, devastating the island. IsraAID has had a team in place since the disaster, supporting the country’s incredible people as they rebuild their communities. 

Preparing Dominica’s Schools with UNICEF

IsraAID’s team in Dominica are collaborating with UNICEF Eastern Caribbean and the Dominican Ministry of Education to launch a new Disaster Preparedness Program in the nation’s schools. The launch event brought together over 130 education officials, including the principals of all 73 of the country’s schools and the Minister of Education.

“For a resilient Dominica, we must start school by school. We start today,” said Melena Fontaine, Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education.

Launched six months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, the program will help ensure Dominica’s schools are prepared for future disasters. Students will assess their own school and use their creativity to determine what steps they need to take to be ready in the event of an emergency.

Read coverage of the launch event in the Dominican Post (link below).

Rebuilding roofs!

Together with Digicel, the IsraAID team in Dominica is busy reconstructing hurricane-destroyed roofs for teachers and families with school-aged children in Dominica.

In Castle Bruce, a village in the east of the island, Rachel, whose roof was repaired by our team, wrote this beautiful thank you poem: 

"All the sacrifice you guys have made towards us,

Our prayers and thanks is surely a must,

For all the help that came our way,

With a few kind words we need to say,

Thank you IsraAID."

See the photo below to read the full poem!

Video

Watch & share the video about the impact Hurricane Maria has had on Dominica and IsraAID’s response. Link below.

Bill Clinton praises IsraAID’s work in Dominica!

IsraAID’s program in Dominica received a special mention from former US President Bill Clinton at the launch of the Clinton Global Initiative Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery. Speaking in front of Prime Ministers, CEOs & heads of humanitarian agencies, President Clinton pointed to the amazing work our team is doing rebuilding schools and homes on the island, alongside our partners Digicel, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean and The Beverley Foundation. 

Watch the video of President Clinton giving a shoutout to IsraAID at the link below. 

Thank you for your continued support! More updates to follow ...

Links:

• Watch the video from Dominica
• Bill Clinton giving IsraAID a shoutout!
• Preparing schools for future disasters with UNICEF

The IsraAID team is now assessing how to assist the island in its longer-term recovery.

Six months after Hurricane Maria, more than 100,000 people still lack electricity, 60,000 homes remain damaged and many people have no access to safe water. During the hurricane, 1.2 billion trees were destroyed, including 18 million coffee trees, and 80% of the island’s agriculture was damaged. It could take up to ten years for the coffee trees to begin to regrow.

Together with local partners, IsraAID has focused on the south-east of the island, notably Barrio Real, one of the communities hardest hit by the hurricane.

Our activities

Water, sanitation and hygiene

IsraAID has partnered with the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and the community of Barrio Real to build a new gravitational sand filtration system, ensuring safe drinking water that does not require electricity. Barrio Real has been without electricity since Hurricane Maria, and the community’s only safe water source was an electric well. Construction is scheduled to begin soon.

Mental health support

IsraAID has collaborated with the Jewish community of Puerto Rico to strengthen community resilience and help develop sustainable responses to trauma and crises. This includes self-care workshops, psychological first aid training and group activities, like expressive arts.

Our team has conducted professional development workshops with PhD Psychology students at Ponce University, teaching them how to use expressive therapy tools, such as art and drama therapy.

IsraAID’s mental health professionals have also been running support workshops for local professionals from ASPIRA, an organization providing educational support for vulnerable students from low income backgrounds. Since the hurricane, ASPIRA have noticed an increase in their students’ challenging behavior. IsraAID’s team is training ASPIRA staff in how to help their students build personal resilience.

Case Study

Doña Chefa is 88 years old. She’s a mother of four and grandmother of 30! She has lived in the small, rural community of Barrio Real, in the mountains of Puerto Rico, all her life. The nearest doctor is a 30-minute drive away and the nearest shops are a 30-minute walk up the mountain.

Hurricane Maria devastated Barrio Real. Almost every roof was blown away, and many homes were flooded. Worse still, the hurricane had damaged the community's electric well - its only supply of safe drinking water. Doña Chefa had to wait for seven days to get bottled water. In the meantime, she was forced to drink water from the river, even though she knew it was unsafe.

Six months later, the residents of Barrio Real are still without electricity, and their well is still damaged and unable to run.

IsraAID’s team in Puerto Rico has provided water filters to Barrio Real, allowing the community to have potable water. To reach a lasting, sustainable solution to this problem, IsraAID has partnered with the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico to build a new gravitational sand filtration system. When it is built, Doña Chefa and her whole community will have safe drinking water without the need for electricity.

More updates to follow! Thank you for your support!