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Caribbean
research trip
This
report outlines our finding from a seven day visit to St Vincent
and the Grenadines from the 16th October 2004.
The
purpose of the visit was to discover whether St Vincent and the
Grenadines youth could benefit from a Barnraiser project and whether
the region has the youth interest and infrastructure to support
such a project.
Background
St
Vincent and the Grenadines is situated in the heart of the Caribbean.
St Vincent, the largest island of the chain is 29km long and 18km
wide, and is located 161km west of Barbados. The Grenadines, a
chain of nearly 600 islets within an area of only 27sqkm extend
for 96km between St Vincent and Grenada. The main islands in the
Grenadines are Bequia, Balliceau, Canouan, Mayreau, Mustique,
Isle D'Quatre, Petit Saint Vincent, and Union Island.
The
2004 estimated population of 118,000[1] is
made up of 26,000 youth (21%). Very little is statistically recorded
about youth. We do know that there is approximately 22% unemployment[2]
across the whole population and a literacy rate of 96%[3].
3500
Internet users were recorded in 2001 (3.4%) across the population
through 15 Internet service providers. There are few Internet
cafes. The government have committed to introducing computers
to schools, however the school we visited had 12 computers, non
of which were working. From this we can conclude that few youth
have regular access to the Internet.
All
these figures were compiled prior to this year's hurricane season.
Hurricane Ivan devastated Grenada killing 29, injuring 666 and
damaging 90% of the buildings throughout the island[4].
Some Internet access is restored as International aid repairs
the islands infrastructure. We do not know at this time whether
aid will be used to improve Internet access and make it more widely
available to youth.
Small
Islands Voice (SIV) project
We
can learn a lot about youth in St Vincent and the Grenadines from
a project that has been running out of Bequia. Students from Bequia
Community School began to develop a list of issues of concern
to youth in their island. This is as part of the Small Islands
Voice (SIV) project.
Today
the SIV project uses a simple moderated forum to link together
youth from the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. The
idea of expanding upon this using Barnraisers tools is fascinating
to us.
Bequia
Nicolas
Gooding, a youth in Bequia approached us about starting a project
to install a WIFI network throughout Bequia to give youth access
to the Barnraiser youth network. Equally this project fascinates
us.
Complimenting
these projects St Vincent and the Grenadines clearly needs a project
to teach youth about computers. The more youth we can train to
maintain the operability of their computers. This will dramatically
increase youth Internet access throughout the region.
Summary
These
projects are ideally suited for the education of youth. There
are many issues regarding access to the Internet, however the
positive aspects of these projects have overweighed the drawbacks.
Given this we will install, host and fund a Barnraiser Caribbean
community for three months which will hopefully allow us a window
to obtain funding. We will also support Nicholas in his project.
We will work with SIV to see if we can expand this network to
incorporate small island youth from across the world. We will
start a project to write an educational curriculum to allow youth
to self teach themselves about the computers they use.
With
thanks to Tradewinds Cruise Club for donating tickets and accommodation,
Kurt Cordice for introducing us to his network, Herman Belmar
from the SIV project and all the youth of the Caribbean who gave
time energy and enthusiasm.
author:
Tom Calthrop
date: 28th October 2004
References
[1] Infoplease
[2] Caribbean disaster and emergency response
agency Situation Report
[3] UN youth
[4] Small Islands Voice project
From
http://www.barnraiser.org/case_study1.php
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