Improving Caribbean Disaster Relief Efforts

Speaker 1 0:05

Hello everyone , welcome back to another episode of Carry On Friends , the Caribbean American experience , and in this episode , mawa reason with Uno a little bit . So , with the 2024 hurricane season behind us and we look ahead to 2025 . Now , if you don't know , hurricane season is from June to November every year and this has been happening at least since the 1950s . And I know this because , being a man sing about 51 storm right , but also , on a personal level , months seeing about 51 stop right , but also on a personal level . I was old enough and remembered what it was like going through Hurricane Gilbert in Jamaica in 1988 . As a child . It's a very different experience now through the lens of being a mom .

Speaker 1 1:01

But , that said , the 2024 hurricane season started really early . Normally hurricanes come around July because by then ocean waters warm up or whatever . But what I experienced during the hurricane season last year , where Grenada , st Vincent , jamaica , other Caribbean countries were impacted I found that there was a lot of activity online and also , at the same time , I was receiving texts from people who wanted to be part of the relief efforts but they did not trust , or rather , they did not know who to trust or where to send their money and who was reputable , and all those concerns are legitimate , and so herein lies the whole point of this episode . I want to talk about how we are approaching disaster relief in the Caribbean , and I've been annoyed , you know , because since I've been doing this podcast for the last 10 years , there's been some serious hurricane seasons and it's the same thing . So what happened in 2024 , I've seen something similar in prior years and I've been annoyed , confused about how unorganized the Caribbean , or maybe the diaspora , is around disaster relief .

Speaker 1 2:44

And when disaster happens in the Caribbean countries , that's when there's a mobilization to collect donations and that has a place , yes , but my question goes back to hurricane season happens every year from June to November and it just feels very reactive , and then , to make matters worse , there's no central place to send donations . Again , people don't know who to trust , where to donate , because there are too many places and people that are doing the same thing . This one is collecting money or this one is promoting something else over here , and it becomes very confusing and we hurt our own efforts because we've diluted the focus , that people don't know what to do , where to send it to , whatever it is , whether it's monetary donation , canned goods , clothes , all of these things and people don't know who to trust . And it's just frustrating for a region that is impacted by climate change , is mostly reactive and fragmented when it comes to disaster relief efforts on the diaspora front . Right , because , let's face it , most of the Caribbean countries , they rely on the diaspora to support the relief efforts . Right , and then , adding , on top of that I can speak as a Jamaican right when you add this layer of scamming , jamaica has a . It's a high corridor for scamming . It is what it is right . That increases the lack of trust , because it appears that everybody and their mother are collect money or whatever , right .

Speaker 1 4:35

And so , as I was reflecting on 2024 , I'm like we need to do better . What can we do better ? I'm like we need to do better . What can we do better ? And I don't know what the options are really . And it's in having this thought process I discovered . Well , let me tell you what I was thinking before I got to where I discovered .

Speaker 1 4:55

So the question I asked myself was like , why can't we have like an NGO or some kind of organization that's able to accept donations , manage the donations , the money , the funds , and coordinates relief efforts ? And they would also be efficient to manage the money , because , although hurricane season happens every year , there's not always a hurricane that causes disaster . So they should also be able to manage and distribute funds , because there are different projects or different relief efforts in different Caribbean countries that would need to be addressed year round . Right , because if it's not hurricane , it's flooding . You know we have volcanic activity , you know there are a whole heap of things going on in the Caribbean that would need relief or support , right ? And so that got me thinking .

Speaker 1 5:54

And so the first place that I go to is CARICOM , the Caribbean community . Like , what can they do ? And that's how I came across . It's called CDEMA and it's the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and it is CARICOM's disaster coordination body . I found an email address on the website and I sent an email to see if there was a representative who was interested in coming on the podcast , and I haven't received any responses and I've sent multiple emails .

Speaker 1 6:33

But from what I gather is , their mandate is for disaster management across CARICOM member states or countries , right , and I believe on the website it says somewhere that they do not accept public donations , which then creates a significant gap , right ? So the question I was asking myself why doesn't something exist to manage the disaster relief ? Right , there is a place that does that . It's called the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency , because in my head I was thinking in American terms , like FEMA . So something exists , but they don't accept donations . So that still is part of the bigger problem that we have , right ?

Speaker 1 7:20

So I'm like , all right , we still need to figure out how to address the fragmented efforts of individual groups and nonprofits . You know , ad hoc things across the diaspora . I'm in America so I can see America , but I'm sure things are happening in Canada and things are happening in the UK , right , and each country might have its own thing . That's going on , right . So I'm really focused on America , since I live here and we can speak a little bit more to you know how American nonprofit systems should operate , and so I was thinking , in addition to this CDEMA existing , is it possible for us to have an organization that is able to maybe work with the CDEMA on what needs funding or what areas need funding ? Right , because this nonprofit that I'm envisioning in my head they are going to focus on hurricane relief . Right , because hurricane is the most destructive . But in the recent years , you know , we've had earthquakes , we're having volcanic activity , and every year , every year , we have flooding and erosion again coming up . 2024 , a whole bunch of rain fall at Jamaica , right . And so if this organization is able to accept donations monetary donations or donations or coordinate the collection of canned goods or clothing or other things , in my head I'm thinking that they're able to direct funds and supplies as needed , as needed , right , supporting the rebuilding or the shoring up or the strengthening of infrastructure . Right , because we know that hurricane season will come , we need to make sure different things are updated or improved or we're ready for the hurricane season .

Speaker 1 9:28

In addition to collecting the money , the public accountability part is key , right , there has to be transparency in how monies are being collected . You know , like an organization any organization that collect money , you want to give people a receipt so they can collect money . Right now , when I look online and people collecting money like , yes , I donate my $20 , but what did my $20 go towards ? Like I don't know , am I getting a confirmation that this went towards this ? So , in addition to public accountability , we need some reporting , you know , on where that money was spent and the impact of the money being spent in a particular area . We need transparency , right ? So , in addition to collecting money , they have oversight . You say , okay , we raised X amount of money , this is where money was spent . It was spent in this country , that country , and it was spent on doing X , y and Z and we also need to see the impact of that money being raised in the community .

Speaker 1 10:34

So , from an American perspective , we need to have audits . You need to audit all the money I spend because , again , we know that corruption exists in any form . So we still need to make sure so there's an audit to make sure so nobody not teeth the money or mismanage the money , because again , that continues to erode public trust . Right , again , the impact reports are going to be critical because , yes , I donate the money , but you spend the money there . So why was the money being spent there ? What is the outcome of the money being spent there ? What is the outcome of the money being spent there ? Do we have to go back and spend money in this particular area every time ?

Speaker 1 11:15

Right , and that is going to be particularly relevant if money is being done on a project that's not necessarily a hurricane relief activity , because with hurricane relief it is more like getting food and rebuilding infrastructure , but , like in flooding and erosion , like things that are happening just because the rain fall hard , heavy rains have been falling or whatever . Right , so we have those things , but they are important . Strengthening our defenses against flood , erosion , landslide , all of these things . They impact almost all Caribbean countries . Right , the Caribbean is . It's so impacted and I'm just , I just want more awareness . Now , if you're listening and you're like Kerianne , something exists . That's great , but that also highlights part of the problem . It's so fragmented that we don't know that an organization exists , and getting the word out to the community that they exist is also part of this . I don't have an answer .

Speaker 1 12:21

Right , the diaspora clearly plays a vital role in our disaster relief efforts and , you know , having a centralized , trusted organization can make the diasporic contributions more impactful . It can be , again , more proactive . We're not waiting until a hurricane hit . We've already donated money year round , etc . Etc . And so when we get the forecast a hurricane , it's mobilization time . It's not about oh , let's wait and see , and see what we're collecting , we're mobilizing and we're figuring out where money's going to be dispersed to . We could go into so many details about how an organization like that can operate , but that's just what I'm thinking .

Speaker 1 13:05

I really feel like we as a region , need to figure out how we're going to mature and leverage the power of the diaspora in a more meaningful and organized way to get things done , because it's our impact . And then let's be clear we also have like for Jamaica , for instance , alumni Association all boys , all girls organizations and they have specific mandates Right , and their mandates are very clear . So if , in the hurricane , my old high school was damaged , you know the Caribbean , you know who love the region and would like to support . It's not just for the diaspora to organize and centralize the collection and donation of funds . You have people who love our region , love specific countries and they want to support , but they need trust in organizations to do that .

Preparing for Hurricane Season Together

Speaker 1 14:09

And my question is as a community , what can we do ? So , if you know of organizations , let me know . I'd love to hear from you your thoughts on this , because , when it comes to whole monies collected and trust , that's a big issue for us . And so , as we look ahead for 2025 , and that's why I'm publishing this episode early in the year , as a community , different organizations come together and figure out what we're going to do to prepare ourselves for the upcoming hurricane season . I would love to hear from you . Send a DM , send a message . Hello at Carry On Friends , I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and until next episode , walk good .