Flip-flops and Firearms
Since I posted my first blog under the "Post Cards" banner, lots has happened on my two favourite "Small-Island" Caribbean places, and not all of it good. I have been following another blog for the last six months written by an amazing woman who had gone to St. Kitts as a Peace Corps volunteer. Now, she is not your stereotypical, just-out-of- college, "eager to change the world" PCV though, because she is a mature lady (just like me) with a wealth of life and business experience. I thought, when I first read about her and was "introduced" to her via the travel forums, that the NGO's to which she would be attached to work would be very fortunate to have someone with her depth of experience doing community development work with them. Sadly, the other day, I read that she has resigned from the Peace Corp and has returned to her home in the US. I won't get into her story here, but I share the link to her blog, so that you can read about her journey and her ultimate decision to resign, in her own words: Re's Adventures in St. Kitts/Nevis
I have been touched by her courage to "tell-it-like-it is" ... because she addresses some issues that many travel agents, tour operators, hospitality industry mavens, as well as some locals and expats on my favourite islands, seem to love to candy-coat: crime has become rampant in St. Kitts and Nevis over the last 10 or so years. The problem is probably more severe in St. Kitts, as the island moves from sugar-cane production to a tourism and service-based economy. It seems that along with this shift, have come a lot of the same problems we see right here in North America, but to read about it and hear about is bitter sweet, because I want to believe that beauty, sunshine and warm weather should be enough to keep the population and their governing bodies from making the same kinds of mistakes that have happened and continue to happen in other tourist destinations.
I have been scouring the local on-line newspapers for some time, so I am quite aware of the problems faced by the citizens and administrators on these islands. But I am also quite amazed that the efforts to address crime and other social issues, keep stalling and are, largely ineffective. It troubles me, because tourism depends on the visitor's perception of safety. And I am not naive enough to forget that the history of these islands has been tied to colonialism, slavery, abuse and bloodshed for centuries. Today's idyllic scenery in St. Kitts and Nevis masks the fact that below the post-card-perfect surface, there is still a huge disparity between the "haves and have-nots" and that youth gangs have been allowed to proliferate and run around, mugging the defensless and breaking into homes and businesses at best, while at worst, the are killing each other as they struggle to assert their "colours" in their particular towns, villages, and surrounding neighbourhoods, in a lethal immitation of their American role-models the Bloods and the Crips.
As of last month, St. Kitts and Nevis achieved the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of the world, with the highest per-capita murder rate. Bear in mind that the total poluation of this little Federation is less than 44,000 people. Now, in Frigate Bay, the "tourist-central" area of St. Kitts and around the Four Seasons in Nevis, you would never guess that crime spree is going on, because the vibe conveys an undeniable aura of laid-back tranquility, so most of this negative activity does not affect visitors. Very few crimes against tourists have been doucmented over the years, as it would appear that these disenfranchised youth prefer to turn their guns on each other. Still, twenty years ago, guns were virtually non-existent on these islands, and the biggest safety concerns had more to do with weather and driving at night when there were only a handful of street lights on the entire face of both islands, so you had to look out for wandering animals - cattle, goats, giant wild pigs ...
Reading the blog in question left me feeling sad, reflective and strangely vindicated. I have been struggling since my last trip to St. Kitts and Nevis, with a sense of dissatisfaction with my overall experience during that trip. Usually, I never want my vacation to end, but during the last trip there were several times, when I just wanted to boot it out of there. Broken down into individual moments, days, events, beach outings, lingering breakfasts, lunches, dinners, "limes" around the beach bars, the vacation was lovely, restful, fun and every other superlative one usually ascribes to such vacations. But, the sum total of my last experience definitely left me edgy. I realize now it is because I can no longer keep going back as a tourist, because I know too damn much about the truth of the place. It has a bruised and aching spirit that is palpable ... and I really felt it during my last trip.
I think I have slowly come to accept what intuitively I have always known - that my beloved retirement dream destination has become the land of flip-flops and firearms. With growth and transition comes chaos, fear, uncertainty ... and a loss of innocence. I think I understand some of this process because of the work that I do in my daily life, but it troubles me at times to realize that my memories of my beloved St. Kitts are just that ... memories. It troubles me that on the road to self-determination, the regular folks are probably being sold a bill of goods, and that in fact, they have little power or control over their destinies.
So much of what I saw and heard during my last two visits troubled me, because my social conscience would not allow me to NOT SEE. I struggle with these uncomfortable feelings because though I see, there is not much I can do. I am not a citizen, I am not working there, and I have no real "right" to speak up about that which I do not live on a daily basis. So, I'll keep pretending to be a "regular" tourist or "former almost-ex-pat" and try to keep future return visits light and superficial until I figure out how to make a contribution. Clearly volunteering the way my PCV friend did, comes with it's challenges ... and from my own perspective (not the PCV's words - so please don't chastise me if you take away a different meaning from her blog) ... a warning to those of us who care ... that warning goes something like this: we are "invited guests" ... and as such we must at times, release and relinquish our preconcieved notions of any contribution we think we may be making and submit to rules and structures that have been in place for a very long time. In submitting though, I wonder if we become part of the problem? Or can we carve a little niche for ourselves, slowly, quietly under the radar? These are the questions that I struggle with as my next vacation in St. Kitts and Nevis draws nearer.
Thanks to my PCV friend, I also feel a glimmer of hope and encouragement. Encouragement, because she showed the gumption to challenge the system that brought her to those lovely islands. And in the end, perhaps to bring about a sense of healthy community building all it takes is a bit of courage and a willingness to walk into the fire.
I have been touched by her courage to "tell-it-like-it is" ... because she addresses some issues that many travel agents, tour operators, hospitality industry mavens, as well as some locals and expats on my favourite islands, seem to love to candy-coat: crime has become rampant in St. Kitts and Nevis over the last 10 or so years. The problem is probably more severe in St. Kitts, as the island moves from sugar-cane production to a tourism and service-based economy. It seems that along with this shift, have come a lot of the same problems we see right here in North America, but to read about it and hear about is bitter sweet, because I want to believe that beauty, sunshine and warm weather should be enough to keep the population and their governing bodies from making the same kinds of mistakes that have happened and continue to happen in other tourist destinations.
I have been scouring the local on-line newspapers for some time, so I am quite aware of the problems faced by the citizens and administrators on these islands. But I am also quite amazed that the efforts to address crime and other social issues, keep stalling and are, largely ineffective. It troubles me, because tourism depends on the visitor's perception of safety. And I am not naive enough to forget that the history of these islands has been tied to colonialism, slavery, abuse and bloodshed for centuries. Today's idyllic scenery in St. Kitts and Nevis masks the fact that below the post-card-perfect surface, there is still a huge disparity between the "haves and have-nots" and that youth gangs have been allowed to proliferate and run around, mugging the defensless and breaking into homes and businesses at best, while at worst, the are killing each other as they struggle to assert their "colours" in their particular towns, villages, and surrounding neighbourhoods, in a lethal immitation of their American role-models the Bloods and the Crips.
As of last month, St. Kitts and Nevis achieved the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of the world, with the highest per-capita murder rate. Bear in mind that the total poluation of this little Federation is less than 44,000 people. Now, in Frigate Bay, the "tourist-central" area of St. Kitts and around the Four Seasons in Nevis, you would never guess that crime spree is going on, because the vibe conveys an undeniable aura of laid-back tranquility, so most of this negative activity does not affect visitors. Very few crimes against tourists have been doucmented over the years, as it would appear that these disenfranchised youth prefer to turn their guns on each other. Still, twenty years ago, guns were virtually non-existent on these islands, and the biggest safety concerns had more to do with weather and driving at night when there were only a handful of street lights on the entire face of both islands, so you had to look out for wandering animals - cattle, goats, giant wild pigs ...
Reading the blog in question left me feeling sad, reflective and strangely vindicated. I have been struggling since my last trip to St. Kitts and Nevis, with a sense of dissatisfaction with my overall experience during that trip. Usually, I never want my vacation to end, but during the last trip there were several times, when I just wanted to boot it out of there. Broken down into individual moments, days, events, beach outings, lingering breakfasts, lunches, dinners, "limes" around the beach bars, the vacation was lovely, restful, fun and every other superlative one usually ascribes to such vacations. But, the sum total of my last experience definitely left me edgy. I realize now it is because I can no longer keep going back as a tourist, because I know too damn much about the truth of the place. It has a bruised and aching spirit that is palpable ... and I really felt it during my last trip.
I think I have slowly come to accept what intuitively I have always known - that my beloved retirement dream destination has become the land of flip-flops and firearms. With growth and transition comes chaos, fear, uncertainty ... and a loss of innocence. I think I understand some of this process because of the work that I do in my daily life, but it troubles me at times to realize that my memories of my beloved St. Kitts are just that ... memories. It troubles me that on the road to self-determination, the regular folks are probably being sold a bill of goods, and that in fact, they have little power or control over their destinies.
So much of what I saw and heard during my last two visits troubled me, because my social conscience would not allow me to NOT SEE. I struggle with these uncomfortable feelings because though I see, there is not much I can do. I am not a citizen, I am not working there, and I have no real "right" to speak up about that which I do not live on a daily basis. So, I'll keep pretending to be a "regular" tourist or "former almost-ex-pat" and try to keep future return visits light and superficial until I figure out how to make a contribution. Clearly volunteering the way my PCV friend did, comes with it's challenges ... and from my own perspective (not the PCV's words - so please don't chastise me if you take away a different meaning from her blog) ... a warning to those of us who care ... that warning goes something like this: we are "invited guests" ... and as such we must at times, release and relinquish our preconcieved notions of any contribution we think we may be making and submit to rules and structures that have been in place for a very long time. In submitting though, I wonder if we become part of the problem? Or can we carve a little niche for ourselves, slowly, quietly under the radar? These are the questions that I struggle with as my next vacation in St. Kitts and Nevis draws nearer.
Thanks to my PCV friend, I also feel a glimmer of hope and encouragement. Encouragement, because she showed the gumption to challenge the system that brought her to those lovely islands. And in the end, perhaps to bring about a sense of healthy community building all it takes is a bit of courage and a willingness to walk into the fire.
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