November 11, 2025 • 34 mins
When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, the impact rippled far beyond the island. This episode explores “the middle place” — that emotional space between home and abroad — through the voices of Caribbean people across the diaspora.
Through Lens 3 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM): Cultural Anchors, Kerry-Ann reflects on how faith, music, sayings, and pride keep us grounded in times of uncertainty and loss.
Episode Highlights:
- The emotional toll of watching home in crisis while abroad
- Finding strength through cultural anchors: music, prayer, proverbs, and national pride
- Diaspora coordination, empathy, and responsible giving during disaster recovery
- How resilience and cultural memory fuel the long work of rebuilding
- Re-examining “giving back” as a year-round cultural practice
Mentioned & Related Episodes:
- Rethinking Caribbean Disaster Relief: A Call to Action
- Support the Caribbean Year-Round: Giving Before, During & After Disaster Strikes
- From Carriacou to Brooklyn: Building Sustainable Futures & Cultural Legacy.
Support How to Support Carry On Friends
- Donate: If you believe in our mission and want to help amplify Caribbean voices, consider making a donation.
- Get Merch: Support Carry On Friends by purchasing merchandise from our store.
Connect with @carryonfriends - Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
A Breadfruit Media Production
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Naturally.
While in the waiting period, youjust want to hear that
everybody's okay.
And once you hear that everyoneis okay, you are ingesting
(00:22):
information about what hashappened to the house where
they're living.
And then the next wave comes.
What feels like insurmountable?
(00:44):
What it's gonna take to helprecover.
And I'm not talking the island.
You're talking your family.
And someone who's never beenthrough this is going to say,
Well, why are you thinking aboutmoney?
Or why are you thinking aboutthis?
(01:04):
But that's what it takes.
And then someone might say,Well, you didn't go through it,
so why do you feel this way?
And that's what is very hard toexplain to people.
The emotional connection to theplace.
(01:27):
Feeling sadness andhelplessness.
And sadness and helplessness, Idon't know which is the chicken
or the egg, but that's that.
But also to be in a place wherelife is going on for everyone
else, and you're in this otherplace, you're in between.
(01:50):
So you're not back homeexperiencing this where
everybody there is dealing withthe same thing.
You're at a place where everyoneelse is going about life as
usual, and so you're in thismiddle place, and it's just this
weird middle place.
And I've experienced this beforewhen I'm experiencing grief when
(02:16):
you know I lost my grandmother,my grandfather, my father.
You get condolences, but aftertime passes, everyone continues
with their life.
Well, you're you're in thisplace processing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:35):
My initial gut feeling was a severe
helplessness and powerlessness,and almost like numbness too,
and just feeling frozen in time.
Like a shell shock.
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Hello everyone, welcome to this very special
edition of Carry On Friends, theCaribbean-American podcast.
If you've always been rockingwith Carry On Friends, you know
me, you've heard me talk aboutmy hometown, Montego Bay, which
is in the parish of St.
James, one of the parishesimpacted by Hurricane Melissa.
(03:21):
St.
James is located in one ofJamaica's three counties.
They are Carnwall, Middlesex,and Surrey.
All the parishes in CarnwellCounty have been tremendously
impacted.
They are Trelawney, St.
James, Hanover, Westmiland, andSt.
(03:41):
Elizabeth.
Over the past week, I've askedmembers of my community to send
me voice notes, not about whatthey saw on the news, but what
it felt like to watch home incrisis while being thousands of
miles away.
(04:01):
What you're about to hear is thestory of their experience, the
waiting, the helplessness, themobilization, the overwhelm, and
the cultural anchors that keepus rooted even when everything
else is shaking.
Even when everything else, as wesay, are pop dung.
(04:25):
This is carry on friends.
The hardest part about watchingthe storm while you're in the
diaspora in New York.
Berlin for Jamaica is knowingthat you can't do anything.
Watching it and just tellingyourself that do not work
(04:51):
yourself up into a frenzy.
Do not let the reports, youknow, make you worry or, you
know, create this anxietybecause there's nothing you
could do.
And so as I had written in thenewsletter, I pray that our
families did the best that theycould to prepare and to be safe.
(05:15):
And I am pushing my energies andmy emotions for the recovery
because that is something that Icouldn't control.
And as much as I can say it thateasy, it was challenging because
as humans, at least, I can'tspeak for anybody else, but you
know, empathy is something thatyou experience.
(05:37):
So if someone else is talking toyou and they're worried about
something, it's not somethingyou dismiss, especially when you
know that's real.
And so trying to manage that wasthe hardest thing.
SPEAKER_03 (05:50):
Um, it hurts.
It hurts for the first 24 hoursnot being able to hear from my
fiance or my daughter and myfamily, and knowing that like
they're down there, and there'snothing, literally nothing that
(06:11):
I can do.
I just literally have to watchwhat's going on on TV.
I tried to buy a flight to getinto Jamaica before, because I
said, better I'm down there andcan help than not be down there
and the the heartbreak of theflight being cancelled and the
(06:35):
heartbreak of not being able torebook a flight because they
closed the airports.
And I just remember and I justremember praying.
I just remember, God please, theit it it it was supposed to
touch and clearing then, andit's gone west.
(06:56):
Maybe it'll keep going west.
And I just kept praying that itwould keep going west.
And the heartbreak of theheartbreak of watching it turn
like they said it would turn.
And you know, it it touched downNew Hope on probably about half
(07:17):
an hour slow drive from NewHope.
15 minute taxi drive from NewHope.
And just to know that it toucheddown and to lose contact with my
family and to not hear fromanybody and just have to watch
and see.
Still very sporadic abilities tocommunicate with family and
(07:42):
friends, and that hurts.
That really does hurt a lot, andI just don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
As you heard in that clip, he prayed it would keep
going west.
On the morning, on that Tuesdaymorning before Hurricane Melissa
hit, I was talking to a friendof mine in Jamaica, and he did
what we commonly do when we saidtech bad things make joke.
He said, it keeps doing this tothe left, to the left movement,
(08:13):
and I wish it would continue.
And that's just an example ofeveryone wishing that it would
continue, move west, or to theleft to the left.
Here's what happened when itdidn't.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
The first 28 to 48 hours according street.
It was it was very paralyzed, itwas a very paralyzing feeling
and experience mentally andphysically.
Um now we're into I don't evenknow how much days, day five or
so.
I am more clear.
(08:48):
Um I you know eventually got totalk with some like-minded
people and people who know howto execute people who are
strategic.
And when you surround yourselfwith those people and have those
kinds of conversations, you getyou know, you're you're elevated
to a better space, just overall.
(09:09):
And that's been helpful for me.
Um, and I had prayed very hardfor guidance and like direct,
direct steps.
And I those prayers have beenanswered to some extent, and I'm
looking forward to the futureanswers, but that that is really
important.
SPEAKER_00 (09:28):
I think the next hardest thing for me was after
the storm, waiting more than 24hours to hear anything, that
waiting to hear from someone,looking at your WhatsApp
messages and just seeing the onecheck mark to at least five
(09:52):
different people.
And knowing that the message hasleft your phone, but it's still
not reached theirs, and it's 24hours and you don't know
anything.
And in your mind, you you know,you know, because I've lived
through a hurricane, I livedthrough Gilbert.
So in your mind, you know that,okay, electricity, you know,
(10:14):
internet might be down, butstill it doesn't help.
Like logically, you know, youknow that that's the case.
Emotionally, it's stilldifficult to wait and not hear
anything.
And then what you begin to do iscall other people within the
district, the community, orother places to see if they
(10:34):
heard from other people in theirfamily.
Because in in a roundabout way,you're thinking, if well, if
they hear something and theyhave signal and electricity or
whatever it is to get a call outor to be on the internet
somehow, somehow, the same soonwill happen for your family.
And so I remember being on thetrain going to work the next day
(10:59):
and just holding in the tearsbecause you don't want people on
the train looking at you likeyou're crazy.
Um, but just holding in thetears because you have not
heard.
So I heard from one cousin and Isaid, okay, I want to wait and
hear from the other cousins,their sisters.
(11:23):
And so when she finally sends amessage, I immediately FaceTime
her, knowing that the internetmight be shaky, but I also want
to see their face.
And I'm talking to them.
And just to see their face, Ijust became so emotional, so
(11:44):
overwhelmed.
And my cousin.
I I have to say it because otherJamaicans would get it.
She said, I wanted a girl, man.
You're gonna start ball, I'll gothen make me start ball.
So um and then she passes thephone to her other sister, which
(12:09):
again, again, it's just how wecope.
So because I'm crying, she'slike, I'm gonna make her cry,
and she don't want to cry.
So she passed the phone to herother sister, and then you know,
so it was that feeling of likegetting out what has been built
up because of just holding it inand together until you hear
(12:33):
something from people.
The person you're about to hearfrom isn't Jamaican.
He's from the British VirginIslands.
As most of you have experienced,he, along with many other
Caribbean friends, reached outto find out if my family was
okay.
But what he's about to shareproves something important.
(12:55):
This experience of watching homesuffer from afar, from the
diaspora, it is a Caribbeanexperience.
It transcends any one Caribbeancountry.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
Yeah, man, thank God for life indeed.
Uh, when I saw the storm, itreminded me a lot of our
situation back in 2017 in BPIwhen Hurricane Urma hit us,
category five the same way, andalso Hurricane Maria, Category
5, one week later, kind ofback-to-back hit Puerto Rico at
us nearby.
Um, it was actually one monthalmost to the day after I had
(13:31):
just relocated to Panama.
And, you know, that justflattened the whole place.
I mean, we're not trying tocompare.
Obviously, Jamaica is a biggerisland, more people, different
kinds of scale.
But it was the same kind ofscene, man.
Everything flattened out, mudeverywhere, houses, people dead.
You know, uh, I didn't hear frommy family for weeks.
(13:52):
You know what I mean?
We didn't have electricity andwater for like three, four weeks
out there.
Um, yeah, it's I know what Imean.
It's a it's a very emotionallytaxing kind of situation.
I tried to explain that tosomebody one day who tried to
come at me with the, oh, well,you know, you didn't feel uh the
brunt of the hurricane becauseyou weren't really home and you
had to escape it and this andthat.
(14:13):
And I was trying to explain tothem, like, it's a, I don't know
if you want to compare likewhich one is worse, but it's a
different kind of uh agony andsuffering being on the outside,
watching the people that youlove suffer, um, not knowing how
to help, not being able to help,like you're saying.
So I definitely understand againif I know what you're talking
(14:33):
about.
It's a really hard thing toexplain to people.
Because people immediately go,Oh, you weren't in the danger
zone, therefore you're good.
Or you can't be feeling any kindof pain or sadness or agony.
You can't be feeling the sameamount to the same degree.
And I'm trying to tell people,nah, you know, that's not how it
works.
(14:53):
It's a d uh, I don't know ifit's more or less, but it's a
different kind of agony.
You know what I mean?
I mean, the first time, thefirst time I remember hearing my
dad's voice have fear.
I mean, in 30 plus years, my dadis like invincible.
I seen this guy go out to helpother people in the middle of
storms and crisis situations.
He's the one directing traffic,and you know, always Superman.
(15:16):
And when that storm hit, after aweek or whatever it is, when I
finally got a phone call fromsome random number, I don't know
whose phone he got a hold of,some random phone number in the
middle of the night and a weaksignal.
That was the first time I heardhim talk in in the week after
the storms.
And I'm telling you, this is thefirst time I've ever in my life
(15:37):
I could hear the fear and traumain my dad's voice.
I never heard this man scaredbefore of anything or anybody.
But I could hear the traumatizedvoice of we need help.
Tell the people we need help.
He just kept on repeating that.
And then he just like gave me abecause at that time he was like
a minister in government andthat kind of stuff.
And he just gave me a list ofthings.
(15:59):
He said, like, I don't know howlong the signal is gonna last.
And he just rattled off.
He said, get a pen and satwriting.
And he gave me a list of thingsuh to tell the people, tell the
news or whoever internationalorganizations that I could get
in contact with in Panama or CNNor wherever.
He said, Tell them these are thethings that we need.
And then he gave me a couple offacts uh on the actual situation
on the ground to tell people tostop the misinformation because
(16:21):
people were spreading all kindsof crazy rumors about, you know,
you know, you know, usualmadness that people say
aspirate.
Oh, everybody dead andeverybody.
No, it's not that it's bad, butit's not that serious.
People eating each other,people, you know, all kind of
ridiculousness.
Um, and I could hear thetrembling in his voice, and then
the phone cut off.
And I didn't hear from him againfor for uh several other days.
So yeah, man, I know what youmean.
SPEAKER_00 (16:43):
With survival confirmed, now what?
SPEAKER_01 (16:47):
Who do you help first?
So, in terms of who to helpfirst, family for me is first
because in the first couple ofhours, I wasn't sure how badly
my family was impacted.
So I was only seeing what washappening like on a wider scale,
a community level.
And therefore, that's where myheart was being tugged towards
(17:08):
and wanting to find a way tohelp on a larger scale.
But once I found out that myfamily was directly impacted and
with significant devastation andnot just my immediate family,
we're talking now, aunts anduncles and you know, cousins and
so forth, that's when it changedfor me.
(17:29):
Like, no, it's like I still wantto help the country on our
whole, but I need to help myfamily first.
And how do I go about doingthat?
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
I've told people that my first priority, yes,
Jamaica, you want to donate.
Here's the link.
I've always been a proponent ofsupporting only official links,
but my first priority is tosupport my family before I can
fund or donate to anyone else.
My resources are to the peoplethat I have first responsibility
(18:04):
to.
And those are the people who Iam connected to as families and
friends.
That's the first point ofcontact.
And what's crazy is that you'retrying to think about like how
do you just live?
And so there's a lot of unknownsthat you're still processing.
(18:26):
And yeah, it's just a few dayslater, but it's not because we
know how long this recovery isgoing to be.
But as we say, for surety forsurety, we know say we're the go
build back.
But this in-between time, thisin the meantime, it's uh it's a
(18:47):
challenge.
SPEAKER_03 (18:48):
Actions that I want to take, I really just think
about I see a lot of peopledoing great work and a lot of
people doing collections.
But I'm thinking and I'm tryingto go over a plan to after just
the disaster relief, you know,because everybody's not gonna
get everything and the big onesthat get sent down.
So I want to be able to get intoJamaica as soon as possible.
(19:12):
And I want to do like a videocampaign and help out the
primary schools that are in myarea, the basic schools, the
schools that, you know, needthat help and try to do a very
um specific and directedcollection and be able to
oversee and send to everybodyall the work that is getting
(19:32):
done.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
When I'm thinking of ways to support, I just have to
let my family dictate.
And, you know, for those who maynot have immediate family in
Jamaica but know they want todo, it's more of don't get swept
up in what social media is doingand feel like you have to do a
lot and you want to take on alot because that's burnout and
(19:55):
that's not going to help in thelong run for the recovery.
And so it's like taking a stepback.
And what does giving back looklike?
Okay, there's monetary, butwhat's your budget?
Right.
Because we have to, we have touse wisdom.
Because at the same time, wecannot ignore what is happening
in America at this time.
(20:16):
The economy isn't that great asimmigrants, there's a lot
happening.
And so we have to make sure thatwe're we're being smart about
what we can do to give back.
What does that look like from abudget standpoint?
Okay, I want to give back.
Um, and and note that going backto the episode that I did with
(20:36):
Anthea, giving back is not justin this moment, in this moment
needs it, but remember, givingback should always be a
year-long process.
And so maybe you're not in aposition to do certain things
now, but there's ongoingopportunities to give.
Can you give up your time?
(20:58):
Can you give of your resource,you know, a skill to help
someone?
Like, these are all the waysthat I'm personally thinking,
and I try to advise people tothink about it because it gets
overwhelming.
But the first priority mostpeople have is to tend to their
immediate families because thatis where you know what the needs
(21:18):
are and where you can jump inand do what needs to happen.
SPEAKER_02 (21:23):
Um, from Orside, you know, we have a whole heap of
Jamaic and friends and family.
Yeah, I have aunts from Jamaicaand all that kind of stuff, even
from St.
Thomas and all that kind ofstuff in Jamaica.
So I got family and friends downthere trying to communicate as
much as possible.
So we're gonna do what we can.
Um, but I know you mean I toldthe group, all group the same
thing.
Like, hey, you know, I Iappreciate that we're eager to
(21:43):
help and we want to help and dothings.
But as you just mentioned, youknow, helping in the wrong way
is not really a help at all.
So just sending a bunch of stuffto the middle of nowhere, we
don't know who could receive itand that kind of thing.
I told them, let's slow down andreally try to identify which
groups on the ground can getstuff to people uh efficiently
(22:03):
and try to walk through them.
You know, maybe it's faster.
I told my group last night, likemaybe it's faster.
Instead of us trying to shipstuff from all the way in the
BVA, maybe we need to be talkingwith our suppliers in Miami for
them to just ship stuff directlydown to Jamaica when the time is
right through the differentchannels.
So we're working directly aswell with the Jamaica, what
would they call it?
Like the Jamaican Alliance,Jamaican, the Association of
(22:26):
Jamaicans in the BVA.
So we're in direct contact withthem as well to try to let them
guide us on the best way tohelp, you know, if it's better
to send some money, like yousaid, to a church and let them
do what they got to do, or youknow, trying to figure out all
that kind of stuff to help fast,but help in a real way that
would actually um actually makea difference.
SPEAKER_00 (22:46):
I also had reactions to what American media was
saying on their one outletparticularly said unsurvivable
conditions, and I rebuked it inthe name of Jesus because I was
just like catastrophic, yes, butthis is not something that an
(23:09):
entire island nation can isgoing to be wiped off the face
of the earth.
And I know it wasn't me becausemy other friends kept saying
this news outlet kept sayingthis, and it was just the
sensationalizing of it, whichdidn't help the anxiety for
those of us here in thediaspora.
And I think this other idea ofusing this as a way for other
(23:33):
people to get likes, to getengagement.
You know, I saw a lot of fake AIvideos.
And, you know, I'm looking atthis video and I'm like, this is
not Jamaica.
You could look at the structureof the houses, different things
in the video, and just know it'snot Jamaica.
Also, the giveaway on it wasOctober 26th.
(23:53):
So this can't be Jamaica, right?
And just feeling really angryfor the country I was born in,
for the land we love, um, forbrand Jamaica to be used in an
opportunist way when it needshumanitarian aid.
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
Resilience is in our DNA, and that's also at a very
heightened level right now.
I think everybody's doublingdown on their resilience.
That is just innate.
And um there's also just wantingto prove to the naysayers and
the doom and groom say, don'twant to put them negative talk
(24:35):
on us, nobody, you know,fireburr all the negative talk
that you that's being spewedabout the devastation.
I mean, yeah, it's devastating,but we're we're not down and
out.
You know, we we we plan to comeback and we plan to come back
with our vengeance and show theworld.
So we have, I feel likeeverybody, every Jamaican feels
(24:58):
like they have a lot to prove inthis moment.
And the ones that are inspiredto move and take action, more
power to them.
And it at the end of the day,it's gonna all go well for the
country.
SPEAKER_00 (25:12):
Before the storm hit, all I thought about was our
national anthem, which is aprayer.
Saying the national anthem andalso singing that school song.
I pledge my heart forever toserve with humble pride.
Between those two songs andprayer, the day after the storm,
(25:36):
I shifted to just streamingmusic on Pandora.
I was streaming my FreddieMcGregor channel, which is a
really great mix of my favoriteFreddy songs, you know, the
Frankie Paul's, you have someBoju, you have some Berris, a
really great mix, you know, andthen switching to my Berris um
(25:59):
Pandora channel, it was streamreggae music all day.
That was how I was coping.
Thinking how with Lickle Butwith Talawa comes into play.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
If I think about any type of thing, it's obviously
the Bob Marley, don't worryabout the thing.
Cause every little thing isgonna be alright.
And you know it's it hurts.
It hurts to be so far away andhave to get up every day and
(26:37):
have to go to work and have tolive life because if I don't,
you know, not living life isn'tgoing to help anything.
And isn't going to help myfamily.
And it's not an emergency here.
(26:58):
You know, there's no there's noPTO to take here.
It's just it's really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (27:08):
What's comforting and keeping me grounded right
now from the culture itself isnumber one, I would say, the
national anthem.
Tied very close with a veryclose second of the national
pledge.
And then uh busy signals JamaicaLove is also up there.
(27:31):
Um when I think about how manyyears ago the anthem and the
pledge were written, and theforethought, incredible
forethought, and and howapplicable it is today, the
words and everything stillconnect and have such a deeper
meaning.
It's just it was it's just thenumber one thing that's keeping
(27:52):
me sane.
Um also keep me very emotional,too, because like once I listen
to the anthem or listening tothe play or saying the pledge in
my head, or hearing Jamaicalove, like I get goosebumps, I
want to cry.
You know, it's just riveting ona soul-stirring kind of level.
(28:13):
Saying and proverb for me rightnow, one-one cocoa full basket.
Even more, even though it meansit's very close in meaning to um
every micomeka muckle, but forsome reason I'm just like
leaning more on the one-onecocoa full basket.
Um, and yeah, that's what I'mholding on to.
(28:33):
I think, I think because it kindof, the phrase kind of, when I
say it, it has movement to itand just feels like you're doing
something, you know, versus theevery mickle mecha muckle.
You know, it feels like it's anaction-oriented statement.
It has, for me, it has somepower there for me.
(28:55):
Um, some inspiration, somealacrity, some get up and go,
you know, type of vibe that I'mgetting from the phrase.
And I think that's why I'mleaning more on that one.
In a crisis of this significantmagnitude, being Jamaican takes
on a whole different meaning.
It's just like it's on adifferent level for me.
(29:19):
And I feel for a lot of people.
Um, like if you think we wereproud before, and now we're
proud.
Like it's like your bloodboiling, kind of proud.
Anybody say nothing, touch abutton, that is like how hot we
are right now for Jamaica.
We're on fire for Jamaica rightnow.
And that's how I feel.
(29:40):
And um, and and and and I thinkthat's a good thing because if
used properly, if that kind ofenergy is used and channeled
properly, it will move thecountry forward.
It would, it will speed up therecovery efforts, it will give
us the momentum that we need toget where we're eventually
trying.
To get to.
(30:01):
And I think I think that that'sincredible.
I think that you know, for somepeople, that might dwindle and
the energy might get low at somepoint.
But right now, everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
One-one corker, full basket, every Mikko Mekamokle,
the Jamaica national anthem, theJamaican Pledge, the Jamaican
school song, Freddie McGregor,Barris Hammond, Bob Marley, Busy
Signals, Jamaica Love.
These aren't just songs.
These aren't just sayings.
It's not just the nationalanthem or the pledge or the
(30:40):
school song.
They're what the Caribbeandiaspora experience model calls
cultural anchors.
The things that keep us rootedto who we are, especially when
the physical place that groundsour identity is threatened.
Food, music, language, proverbs,pride, family, these are anchors
(31:05):
that hold us when everythingelse is unstable.
The damage Hurricane Melissaunleashed on Jamaica, Cuba,
Haiti, Bahamas is widelyreported.
Images, videos, stories, we'reall hearing them.
(31:27):
It's heartbreaking.
It's disastrous.
Damage roads, homes,infrastructure.
But listen to what it couldn'tdamage.
The immense sense of pridebubbling, boiling, bursting, the
(31:48):
resilience that is in the DNA,our DNA, that determination to
prove that we are not down andout.
But here's what I want us to sitwith.
This isn't the first hurricane.
It won't be the last.
(32:08):
Climate change means Caribbeancountries faced increasing
vulnerability.
And every time this happens, thediaspora communities go through
the same cycle (32:18):
the waiting, the helplessness, the mobilization,
the long recovery.
So the questions become what isour responsibility as the
diaspora?
Not just in this moment ofcrisis, but in the long work of
rebuilding.
I've covered this in twoepisodes prior.
(32:41):
And if you haven't listened,I'll include them in the show
notes.
Hurricane Melissa, there's arelief effort that is happening,
but there's also a recoveryeffort.
And then there's an ongoingeffort.
How do we support not just whenthe cameras are watching, but
six months from now, a year fromnow, two, three, four, five
(33:03):
years from now?
And what do we owe the nextgeneration?
What stories do we tell themabout this moment?
About resilience, about buildingback better, about better
preparation, about how weaddress and prepare for climate
change impact in the Caribbean.
(33:26):
What do we tell the nextgeneration about what it means
to be Caribbean, even whenyou're far from home?
I don't have all the answers,but I know this.
Recovery is long, the work iscollective, and the cultural
anchors will keep us rootedwhile we do it.
(33:50):
There are many relief effortsthat are happening.
Giving back isn't just a momentin time, it's a practice.
To everyone who sent voice notesfor this episode, thank you for
your vulnerability, for lettingus witness your grief and your
strength.
To my family in Mobay, thebroader St.
(34:11):
James and the broader CornwallCounty parishes, and to, of
course, Jamaica.
We love you.
We see you.
Thank you for listening.
Naturally.
While in the waiting period, youjust want to hear that
everybody's okay.
And once you hear that everyoneis okay, you are ingesting
(00:22):
information about what hashappened to the house where
they're living.
And then the next wave comes.
What feels like insurmountable?
(00:44):
What it's gonna take to helprecover.
And I'm not talking the island.
You're talking your family.
And someone who's never beenthrough this is going to say,
Well, why are you thinking aboutmoney?
Or why are you thinking aboutthis?
(01:04):
But that's what it takes.
And then someone might say,Well, you didn't go through it,
so why do you feel this way?
And that's what is very hard toexplain to people.
The emotional connection to theplace.
(01:27):
Feeling sadness andhelplessness.
And sadness and helplessness, Idon't know which is the chicken
or the egg, but that's that.
But also to be in a place wherelife is going on for everyone
else, and you're in this otherplace, you're in between.
(01:50):
So you're not back homeexperiencing this where
everybody there is dealing withthe same thing.
You're at a place where everyoneelse is going about life as
usual, and so you're in thismiddle place, and it's just this
weird middle place.
And I've experienced this beforewhen I'm experiencing grief when
(02:16):
you know I lost my grandmother,my grandfather, my father.
You get condolences, but aftertime passes, everyone continues
with their life.
Well, you're you're in thisplace processing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:35):
My initial gut feeling was a severe
helplessness and powerlessness,and almost like numbness too,
and just feeling frozen in time.
Like a shell shock.
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Hello everyone, welcome to this very special
edition of Carry On Friends, theCaribbean-American podcast.
If you've always been rockingwith Carry On Friends, you know
me, you've heard me talk aboutmy hometown, Montego Bay, which
is in the parish of St.
James, one of the parishesimpacted by Hurricane Melissa.
(03:21):
St.
James is located in one ofJamaica's three counties.
They are Carnwall, Middlesex,and Surrey.
All the parishes in CarnwellCounty have been tremendously
impacted.
They are Trelawney, St.
James, Hanover, Westmiland, andSt.
(03:41):
Elizabeth.
Over the past week, I've askedmembers of my community to send
me voice notes, not about whatthey saw on the news, but what
it felt like to watch home incrisis while being thousands of
miles away.
(04:01):
What you're about to hear is thestory of their experience, the
waiting, the helplessness, themobilization, the overwhelm, and
the cultural anchors that keepus rooted even when everything
else is shaking.
Even when everything else, as wesay, are pop dung.
(04:25):
This is carry on friends.
The hardest part about watchingthe storm while you're in the
diaspora in New York.
Berlin for Jamaica is knowingthat you can't do anything.
Watching it and just tellingyourself that do not work
(04:51):
yourself up into a frenzy.
Do not let the reports, youknow, make you worry or, you
know, create this anxietybecause there's nothing you
could do.
And so as I had written in thenewsletter, I pray that our
families did the best that theycould to prepare and to be safe.
(05:15):
And I am pushing my energies andmy emotions for the recovery
because that is something that Icouldn't control.
And as much as I can say it thateasy, it was challenging because
as humans, at least, I can'tspeak for anybody else, but you
know, empathy is something thatyou experience.
(05:37):
So if someone else is talking toyou and they're worried about
something, it's not somethingyou dismiss, especially when you
know that's real.
And so trying to manage that wasthe hardest thing.
SPEAKER_03 (05:50):
Um, it hurts.
It hurts for the first 24 hoursnot being able to hear from my
fiance or my daughter and myfamily, and knowing that like
they're down there, and there'snothing, literally nothing that
(06:11):
I can do.
I just literally have to watchwhat's going on on TV.
I tried to buy a flight to getinto Jamaica before, because I
said, better I'm down there andcan help than not be down there
and the the heartbreak of theflight being cancelled and the
(06:35):
heartbreak of not being able torebook a flight because they
closed the airports.
And I just remember and I justremember praying.
I just remember, God please, theit it it it was supposed to
touch and clearing then, andit's gone west.
(06:56):
Maybe it'll keep going west.
And I just kept praying that itwould keep going west.
And the heartbreak of theheartbreak of watching it turn
like they said it would turn.
And you know, it it touched downNew Hope on probably about half
(07:17):
an hour slow drive from NewHope.
15 minute taxi drive from NewHope.
And just to know that it toucheddown and to lose contact with my
family and to not hear fromanybody and just have to watch
and see.
Still very sporadic abilities tocommunicate with family and
(07:42):
friends, and that hurts.
That really does hurt a lot, andI just don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
As you heard in that clip, he prayed it would keep
going west.
On the morning, on that Tuesdaymorning before Hurricane Melissa
hit, I was talking to a friendof mine in Jamaica, and he did
what we commonly do when we saidtech bad things make joke.
He said, it keeps doing this tothe left, to the left movement,
(08:13):
and I wish it would continue.
And that's just an example ofeveryone wishing that it would
continue, move west, or to theleft to the left.
Here's what happened when itdidn't.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
The first 28 to 48 hours according street.
It was it was very paralyzed, itwas a very paralyzing feeling
and experience mentally andphysically.
Um now we're into I don't evenknow how much days, day five or
so.
I am more clear.
(08:48):
Um I you know eventually got totalk with some like-minded
people and people who know howto execute people who are
strategic.
And when you surround yourselfwith those people and have those
kinds of conversations, you getyou know, you're you're elevated
to a better space, just overall.
(09:09):
And that's been helpful for me.
Um, and I had prayed very hardfor guidance and like direct,
direct steps.
And I those prayers have beenanswered to some extent, and I'm
looking forward to the futureanswers, but that that is really
important.
SPEAKER_00 (09:28):
I think the next hardest thing for me was after
the storm, waiting more than 24hours to hear anything, that
waiting to hear from someone,looking at your WhatsApp
messages and just seeing the onecheck mark to at least five
(09:52):
different people.
And knowing that the message hasleft your phone, but it's still
not reached theirs, and it's 24hours and you don't know
anything.
And in your mind, you you know,you know, because I've lived
through a hurricane, I livedthrough Gilbert.
So in your mind, you know that,okay, electricity, you know,
(10:14):
internet might be down, butstill it doesn't help.
Like logically, you know, youknow that that's the case.
Emotionally, it's stilldifficult to wait and not hear
anything.
And then what you begin to do iscall other people within the
district, the community, orother places to see if they
(10:34):
heard from other people in theirfamily.
Because in in a roundabout way,you're thinking, if well, if
they hear something and theyhave signal and electricity or
whatever it is to get a call outor to be on the internet
somehow, somehow, the same soonwill happen for your family.
And so I remember being on thetrain going to work the next day
(10:59):
and just holding in the tearsbecause you don't want people on
the train looking at you likeyou're crazy.
Um, but just holding in thetears because you have not
heard.
So I heard from one cousin and Isaid, okay, I want to wait and
hear from the other cousins,their sisters.
(11:23):
And so when she finally sends amessage, I immediately FaceTime
her, knowing that the internetmight be shaky, but I also want
to see their face.
And I'm talking to them.
And just to see their face, Ijust became so emotional, so
(11:44):
overwhelmed.
And my cousin.
I I have to say it because otherJamaicans would get it.
She said, I wanted a girl, man.
You're gonna start ball, I'll gothen make me start ball.
So um and then she passes thephone to her other sister, which
(12:09):
again, again, it's just how wecope.
So because I'm crying, she'slike, I'm gonna make her cry,
and she don't want to cry.
So she passed the phone to herother sister, and then you know,
so it was that feeling of likegetting out what has been built
up because of just holding it inand together until you hear
(12:33):
something from people.
The person you're about to hearfrom isn't Jamaican.
He's from the British VirginIslands.
As most of you have experienced,he, along with many other
Caribbean friends, reached outto find out if my family was
okay.
But what he's about to shareproves something important.
(12:55):
This experience of watching homesuffer from afar, from the
diaspora, it is a Caribbeanexperience.
It transcends any one Caribbeancountry.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
Yeah, man, thank God for life indeed.
Uh, when I saw the storm, itreminded me a lot of our
situation back in 2017 in BPIwhen Hurricane Urma hit us,
category five the same way, andalso Hurricane Maria, Category
5, one week later, kind ofback-to-back hit Puerto Rico at
us nearby.
Um, it was actually one monthalmost to the day after I had
(13:31):
just relocated to Panama.
And, you know, that justflattened the whole place.
I mean, we're not trying tocompare.
Obviously, Jamaica is a biggerisland, more people, different
kinds of scale.
But it was the same kind ofscene, man.
Everything flattened out, mudeverywhere, houses, people dead.
You know, uh, I didn't hear frommy family for weeks.
(13:52):
You know what I mean?
We didn't have electricity andwater for like three, four weeks
out there.
Um, yeah, it's I know what Imean.
It's a it's a very emotionallytaxing kind of situation.
I tried to explain that tosomebody one day who tried to
come at me with the, oh, well,you know, you didn't feel uh the
brunt of the hurricane becauseyou weren't really home and you
had to escape it and this andthat.
(14:13):
And I was trying to explain tothem, like, it's a, I don't know
if you want to compare likewhich one is worse, but it's a
different kind of uh agony andsuffering being on the outside,
watching the people that youlove suffer, um, not knowing how
to help, not being able to help,like you're saying.
So I definitely understand againif I know what you're talking
(14:33):
about.
It's a really hard thing toexplain to people.
Because people immediately go,Oh, you weren't in the danger
zone, therefore you're good.
Or you can't be feeling any kindof pain or sadness or agony.
You can't be feeling the sameamount to the same degree.
And I'm trying to tell people,nah, you know, that's not how it
works.
(14:53):
It's a d uh, I don't know ifit's more or less, but it's a
different kind of agony.
You know what I mean?
I mean, the first time, thefirst time I remember hearing my
dad's voice have fear.
I mean, in 30 plus years, my dadis like invincible.
I seen this guy go out to helpother people in the middle of
storms and crisis situations.
He's the one directing traffic,and you know, always Superman.
(15:16):
And when that storm hit, after aweek or whatever it is, when I
finally got a phone call fromsome random number, I don't know
whose phone he got a hold of,some random phone number in the
middle of the night and a weaksignal.
That was the first time I heardhim talk in in the week after
the storms.
And I'm telling you, this is thefirst time I've ever in my life
(15:37):
I could hear the fear and traumain my dad's voice.
I never heard this man scaredbefore of anything or anybody.
But I could hear the traumatizedvoice of we need help.
Tell the people we need help.
He just kept on repeating that.
And then he just like gave me abecause at that time he was like
a minister in government andthat kind of stuff.
And he just gave me a list ofthings.
(15:59):
He said, like, I don't know howlong the signal is gonna last.
And he just rattled off.
He said, get a pen and satwriting.
And he gave me a list of thingsuh to tell the people, tell the
news or whoever internationalorganizations that I could get
in contact with in Panama or CNNor wherever.
He said, Tell them these are thethings that we need.
And then he gave me a couple offacts uh on the actual situation
on the ground to tell people tostop the misinformation because
(16:21):
people were spreading all kindsof crazy rumors about, you know,
you know, you know, usualmadness that people say
aspirate.
Oh, everybody dead andeverybody.
No, it's not that it's bad, butit's not that serious.
People eating each other,people, you know, all kind of
ridiculousness.
Um, and I could hear thetrembling in his voice, and then
the phone cut off.
And I didn't hear from him againfor for uh several other days.
So yeah, man, I know what youmean.
SPEAKER_00 (16:43):
With survival confirmed, now what?
SPEAKER_01 (16:47):
Who do you help first?
So, in terms of who to helpfirst, family for me is first
because in the first couple ofhours, I wasn't sure how badly
my family was impacted.
So I was only seeing what washappening like on a wider scale,
a community level.
And therefore, that's where myheart was being tugged towards
(17:08):
and wanting to find a way tohelp on a larger scale.
But once I found out that myfamily was directly impacted and
with significant devastation andnot just my immediate family,
we're talking now, aunts anduncles and you know, cousins and
so forth, that's when it changedfor me.
(17:29):
Like, no, it's like I still wantto help the country on our
whole, but I need to help myfamily first.
And how do I go about doingthat?
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
I've told people that my first priority, yes,
Jamaica, you want to donate.
Here's the link.
I've always been a proponent ofsupporting only official links,
but my first priority is tosupport my family before I can
fund or donate to anyone else.
My resources are to the peoplethat I have first responsibility
(18:04):
to.
And those are the people who Iam connected to as families and
friends.
That's the first point ofcontact.
And what's crazy is that you'retrying to think about like how
do you just live?
And so there's a lot of unknownsthat you're still processing.
(18:26):
And yeah, it's just a few dayslater, but it's not because we
know how long this recovery isgoing to be.
But as we say, for surety forsurety, we know say we're the go
build back.
But this in-between time, thisin the meantime, it's uh it's a
(18:47):
challenge.
SPEAKER_03 (18:48):
Actions that I want to take, I really just think
about I see a lot of peopledoing great work and a lot of
people doing collections.
But I'm thinking and I'm tryingto go over a plan to after just
the disaster relief, you know,because everybody's not gonna
get everything and the big onesthat get sent down.
So I want to be able to get intoJamaica as soon as possible.
(19:12):
And I want to do like a videocampaign and help out the
primary schools that are in myarea, the basic schools, the
schools that, you know, needthat help and try to do a very
um specific and directedcollection and be able to
oversee and send to everybodyall the work that is getting
(19:32):
done.
SPEAKER_00 (19:33):
When I'm thinking of ways to support, I just have to
let my family dictate.
And, you know, for those who maynot have immediate family in
Jamaica but know they want todo, it's more of don't get swept
up in what social media is doingand feel like you have to do a
lot and you want to take on alot because that's burnout and
(19:55):
that's not going to help in thelong run for the recovery.
And so it's like taking a stepback.
And what does giving back looklike?
Okay, there's monetary, butwhat's your budget?
Right.
Because we have to, we have touse wisdom.
Because at the same time, wecannot ignore what is happening
in America at this time.
(20:16):
The economy isn't that great asimmigrants, there's a lot
happening.
And so we have to make sure thatwe're we're being smart about
what we can do to give back.
What does that look like from abudget standpoint?
Okay, I want to give back.
Um, and and note that going backto the episode that I did with
(20:36):
Anthea, giving back is not justin this moment, in this moment
needs it, but remember, givingback should always be a
year-long process.
And so maybe you're not in aposition to do certain things
now, but there's ongoingopportunities to give.
Can you give up your time?
(20:58):
Can you give of your resource,you know, a skill to help
someone?
Like, these are all the waysthat I'm personally thinking,
and I try to advise people tothink about it because it gets
overwhelming.
But the first priority mostpeople have is to tend to their
immediate families because thatis where you know what the needs
(21:18):
are and where you can jump inand do what needs to happen.
SPEAKER_02 (21:23):
Um, from Orside, you know, we have a whole heap of
Jamaic and friends and family.
Yeah, I have aunts from Jamaicaand all that kind of stuff, even
from St.
Thomas and all that kind ofstuff in Jamaica.
So I got family and friends downthere trying to communicate as
much as possible.
So we're gonna do what we can.
Um, but I know you mean I toldthe group, all group the same
thing.
Like, hey, you know, I Iappreciate that we're eager to
(21:43):
help and we want to help and dothings.
But as you just mentioned, youknow, helping in the wrong way
is not really a help at all.
So just sending a bunch of stuffto the middle of nowhere, we
don't know who could receive itand that kind of thing.
I told them, let's slow down andreally try to identify which
groups on the ground can getstuff to people uh efficiently
(22:03):
and try to walk through them.
You know, maybe it's faster.
I told my group last night, likemaybe it's faster.
Instead of us trying to shipstuff from all the way in the
BVA, maybe we need to be talkingwith our suppliers in Miami for
them to just ship stuff directlydown to Jamaica when the time is
right through the differentchannels.
So we're working directly aswell with the Jamaica, what
would they call it?
Like the Jamaican Alliance,Jamaican, the Association of
(22:26):
Jamaicans in the BVA.
So we're in direct contact withthem as well to try to let them
guide us on the best way tohelp, you know, if it's better
to send some money, like yousaid, to a church and let them
do what they got to do, or youknow, trying to figure out all
that kind of stuff to help fast,but help in a real way that
would actually um actually makea difference.
SPEAKER_00 (22:46):
I also had reactions to what American media was
saying on their one outletparticularly said unsurvivable
conditions, and I rebuked it inthe name of Jesus because I was
just like catastrophic, yes, butthis is not something that an
(23:09):
entire island nation can isgoing to be wiped off the face
of the earth.
And I know it wasn't me becausemy other friends kept saying
this news outlet kept sayingthis, and it was just the
sensationalizing of it, whichdidn't help the anxiety for
those of us here in thediaspora.
And I think this other idea ofusing this as a way for other
(23:33):
people to get likes, to getengagement.
You know, I saw a lot of fake AIvideos.
And, you know, I'm looking atthis video and I'm like, this is
not Jamaica.
You could look at the structureof the houses, different things
in the video, and just know it'snot Jamaica.
Also, the giveaway on it wasOctober 26th.
(23:53):
So this can't be Jamaica, right?
And just feeling really angryfor the country I was born in,
for the land we love, um, forbrand Jamaica to be used in an
opportunist way when it needshumanitarian aid.
SPEAKER_01 (24:15):
Resilience is in our DNA, and that's also at a very
heightened level right now.
I think everybody's doublingdown on their resilience.
That is just innate.
And um there's also just wantingto prove to the naysayers and
the doom and groom say, don'twant to put them negative talk
(24:35):
on us, nobody, you know,fireburr all the negative talk
that you that's being spewedabout the devastation.
I mean, yeah, it's devastating,but we're we're not down and
out.
You know, we we we plan to comeback and we plan to come back
with our vengeance and show theworld.
So we have, I feel likeeverybody, every Jamaican feels
(24:58):
like they have a lot to prove inthis moment.
And the ones that are inspiredto move and take action, more
power to them.
And it at the end of the day,it's gonna all go well for the
country.
SPEAKER_00 (25:12):
Before the storm hit, all I thought about was our
national anthem, which is aprayer.
Saying the national anthem andalso singing that school song.
I pledge my heart forever toserve with humble pride.
Between those two songs andprayer, the day after the storm,
(25:36):
I shifted to just streamingmusic on Pandora.
I was streaming my FreddieMcGregor channel, which is a
really great mix of my favoriteFreddy songs, you know, the
Frankie Paul's, you have someBoju, you have some Berris, a
really great mix, you know, andthen switching to my Berris um
(25:59):
Pandora channel, it was streamreggae music all day.
That was how I was coping.
Thinking how with Lickle Butwith Talawa comes into play.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
If I think about any type of thing, it's obviously
the Bob Marley, don't worryabout the thing.
Cause every little thing isgonna be alright.
And you know it's it hurts.
It hurts to be so far away andhave to get up every day and
(26:37):
have to go to work and have tolive life because if I don't,
you know, not living life isn'tgoing to help anything.
And isn't going to help myfamily.
And it's not an emergency here.
(26:58):
You know, there's no there's noPTO to take here.
It's just it's really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (27:08):
What's comforting and keeping me grounded right
now from the culture itself isnumber one, I would say, the
national anthem.
Tied very close with a veryclose second of the national
pledge.
And then uh busy signals JamaicaLove is also up there.
(27:31):
Um when I think about how manyyears ago the anthem and the
pledge were written, and theforethought, incredible
forethought, and and howapplicable it is today, the
words and everything stillconnect and have such a deeper
meaning.
It's just it was it's just thenumber one thing that's keeping
(27:52):
me sane.
Um also keep me very emotional,too, because like once I listen
to the anthem or listening tothe play or saying the pledge in
my head, or hearing Jamaicalove, like I get goosebumps, I
want to cry.
You know, it's just riveting ona soul-stirring kind of level.
(28:13):
Saying and proverb for me rightnow, one-one cocoa full basket.
Even more, even though it meansit's very close in meaning to um
every micomeka muckle, but forsome reason I'm just like
leaning more on the one-onecocoa full basket.
Um, and yeah, that's what I'mholding on to.
(28:33):
I think, I think because it kindof, the phrase kind of, when I
say it, it has movement to itand just feels like you're doing
something, you know, versus theevery mickle mecha muckle.
You know, it feels like it's anaction-oriented statement.
It has, for me, it has somepower there for me.
(28:55):
Um, some inspiration, somealacrity, some get up and go,
you know, type of vibe that I'mgetting from the phrase.
And I think that's why I'mleaning more on that one.
In a crisis of this significantmagnitude, being Jamaican takes
on a whole different meaning.
It's just like it's on adifferent level for me.
(29:19):
And I feel for a lot of people.
Um, like if you think we wereproud before, and now we're
proud.
Like it's like your bloodboiling, kind of proud.
Anybody say nothing, touch abutton, that is like how hot we
are right now for Jamaica.
We're on fire for Jamaica rightnow.
And that's how I feel.
(29:40):
And um, and and and and I thinkthat's a good thing because if
used properly, if that kind ofenergy is used and channeled
properly, it will move thecountry forward.
It would, it will speed up therecovery efforts, it will give
us the momentum that we need toget where we're eventually
trying.
To get to.
(30:01):
And I think I think that that'sincredible.
I think that you know, for somepeople, that might dwindle and
the energy might get low at somepoint.
But right now, everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
One-one corker, full basket, every Mikko Mekamokle,
the Jamaica national anthem, theJamaican Pledge, the Jamaican
school song, Freddie McGregor,Barris Hammond, Bob Marley, Busy
Signals, Jamaica Love.
These aren't just songs.
These aren't just sayings.
It's not just the nationalanthem or the pledge or the
(30:40):
school song.
They're what the Caribbeandiaspora experience model calls
cultural anchors.
The things that keep us rootedto who we are, especially when
the physical place that groundsour identity is threatened.
Food, music, language, proverbs,pride, family, these are anchors
(31:05):
that hold us when everythingelse is unstable.
The damage Hurricane Melissaunleashed on Jamaica, Cuba,
Haiti, Bahamas is widelyreported.
Images, videos, stories, we'reall hearing them.
(31:27):
It's heartbreaking.
It's disastrous.
Damage roads, homes,infrastructure.
But listen to what it couldn'tdamage.
The immense sense of pridebubbling, boiling, bursting, the
(31:48):
resilience that is in the DNA,our DNA, that determination to
prove that we are not down andout.
But here's what I want us to sitwith.
This isn't the first hurricane.
It won't be the last.
(32:08):
Climate change means Caribbeancountries faced increasing
vulnerability.
And every time this happens, thediaspora communities go through
the same cycle (32:18):
the waiting, the helplessness, the mobilization,
the long recovery.
So the questions become what isour responsibility as the
diaspora?
Not just in this moment ofcrisis, but in the long work of
rebuilding.
I've covered this in twoepisodes prior.
(32:41):
And if you haven't listened,I'll include them in the show
notes.
Hurricane Melissa, there's arelief effort that is happening,
but there's also a recoveryeffort.
And then there's an ongoingeffort.
How do we support not just whenthe cameras are watching, but
six months from now, a year fromnow, two, three, four, five
(33:03):
years from now?
And what do we owe the nextgeneration?
What stories do we tell themabout this moment?
About resilience, about buildingback better, about better
preparation, about how weaddress and prepare for climate
change impact in the Caribbean.
(33:26):
What do we tell the nextgeneration about what it means
to be Caribbean, even whenyou're far from home?
I don't have all the answers,but I know this.
Recovery is long, the work iscollective, and the cultural
anchors will keep us rootedwhile we do it.
(33:50):
There are many relief effortsthat are happening.
Giving back isn't just a momentin time, it's a practice.
To everyone who sent voice notesfor this episode, thank you for
your vulnerability, for lettingus witness your grief and your
strength.
To my family in Mobay, thebroader St.
(34:11):
James and the broader CornwallCounty parishes, and to, of
course, Jamaica.
We love you.
We see you.
Thank you for listening.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.