"Shaken but determined." That
is the how Dr. Jennifer Holder Dolly, Director of Social Recovery at the
Agency for Reconstruction and Development Inc. (ARD), describes the mood
of residents in Carriacou.
Dr. Dolly and ARD Counsellors Lorita
Joseph and Hermes Jacob, accompanied by Social Worker attached to the Ministry
of Carriacou and Petit Martinique Affairs Susan Peters, spent Monday moving
about Carriacou.
"We stopped and visited families and individuals whose homes had been damaged or destroyed by the Hurricane," Dr. Dolly said during a telephone interview this morning from Carriacou.
Dr. Dolly and her team are traveling to Petit Martinique today to conduct similar stress debriefings with residents.
"By talking to people we are getting a sense of how they are feeling and helping them to reconstruct their experiences. What we are hearing is that people are determined to build back. They are busy helping one another," she said.
In addition to visiting private homes and businesses in the most devastated areas, the ARD team also visited residents of the Top Hill Home for the Aged, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Emily.
TopHillHome Hurricane Emily struck early Thursday morning July 14, causing extensive damage to Carriacou and Petit Martinique, as well as St. Patrick and parts of St. Andrew.
Dr. Dolly will convene a meeting of counsellors trained in stress debriefing at the ARD Board Room on Wednesday to discuss plans for similar interventions in St. Patrick and St. Andrew.
Agency for Reconstruction and Development
Inc.
Botanical Gardens, St. George's, Grenada
Tel: 473-439-5606/07/08;
Fax: 473-439-5609;
Email: ard@gov.gd