On Wednesday, we had a late morning since we didn't have to be at the Department of Emergency Management until after lunch. The CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency) is similar to FEMA and works as an inter-governmental agency that is responsible for disaster management in the Caribbean community (CARICOM)--which has 18 participating countries.
It was interesting to hear all about the emergencies that they helped with, but even more interesting to hear how it influenced development. Liz Riley, the woman that gave the presentation, said that they're seeing a trend of development partners consolidating their intervention efforts, which makes sense, since I'm sure funders wouldn't want to fund 5 organizations that are doing the same thing in the same community. Another point that was interesting, was that she said you can easily create a second disaster by how you handle the first disaster.
When she was talking about the different organizations that her organization works with, my eye caught onto the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). It would be amazing to 1) learn more about the organization and even better to 2) get a practicum there! Ken, our professor, said that he might be able to get a god deal on housing here, so it's worth a shot!
After her presentation, we went over to Bridgetown to check out the city. By the time we got there though, practically everything was shut down--by 5:30pm! We ended up going to a natural foods store, where they had shakes & smoothies. I got a delicious peanut butter shake. So far on this trip, I've chosen the best food. After dinner one night, we went out for ice cream where I had a yummy coconut ice cream with fresh coconut pieces--and now, a peanut butter shake! Can't get better than that!
For dinner, we went to a touristy Barbadian/Bajan (pronounce the "j") restaurant, where I ended up getting a cheeseburger since all the other options were above our price point. But still good! Sometimes you just crave a cheeseburger!
No comments:
Post a Comment