By David Kurtz
I finished my service in the beautiful village of Thibaud (pronounced “tee-bow”), Dominica, near the end of August 2017. Unfortunately, just a few weeks after I departed, Tropical Storm Maria unexpectedly spun up to a Category 5 hurricane, and unleashed her fury on the little island. Dominica was devastated!
I had promised my students before I left in August that I would return again in a few months to check up on them (and to escape the cold January weather). Despite the lack of electricity and running water after Hurricane Maria, I kept my promise and returned to my village for a couple of weeks last January (see the previous story in my blog). Before leaving in January 2018, I promised to come back in January 2019.
As I prepared to make my return visit this year, I wondered how would it go, since 12 long months had elapsed from my last visit, and 17 months since I was living among them. Would I still be warmly received by the village? Would some of them even remember me? How would I do at remembering names and faces in the village? [During a lengthy layover on my way down in the San Juan, Puerto Rico airport, I drew up a little map and was able to place over 170 names of students and villagers in their approximate locations–it was good practice just prior to my arrival.]
It turns out that there was no need to fear–the welcome I received was quite heartwarming! In fact, my return just happened to coincide with a special holiday party for the village children (orchestrated by some of the diaspora, and led by my former Kweyol teacher and Dominican radio personality, Felix Henderson, and his wife) that had been previously delayed, so the timing was perfect. I had brought a cannister of the glow bracelets that the children always enjoyed getting from me, so these glowing lights added to the holiday party as it got dark. Below is a picture taken with a bunch of the village children gathered around me at the party.
