As part of the Surviving Storms | CCC project, Dominican-British researcher Dr Adom Philogene Heron and his colleague Dr Annabel Wilson visited Petite Savanne to participate a koudmen (cooperative work) that villagers hold on a Sunday to restore their road. They made a film about the process.
‘Road to Repair’ tells the story of villagers rebuilding a the road to their home, their farms, their livelihoods – a lifeline for a community devastated and displaced by tropical storm Erika in 2015.
Shortly after landslides and floods took the lives of 18 souls, the village was declared abandoned by government. Yet, many continue to make life there. Some never left; some go back and forth to their gardens or the bay oil distillery from their resettlement in Bellevue Chopin; and some simply return for the weekend ‘lime’ and enjoy their village.
Their road is a pathway home – to livelihoods, to ancient bay trees planted by their ancestors and to their land.
The road to repair is long but the villagers are making a way.
If you can please assist the villagers in their koudmen) – buying materials, food and drinks – please contact Staret on +1 767 277 4538
To learn more about the project:
