January 7, 2025 • 18 mins
Is the Caribbean prepared for the next hurricane season, or are we stuck in a reactive cycle? As I look back on the turmoil of the 2024 hurricane season, I question the chaotic and fragmented approach to disaster relief efforts in the diaspora. Many in the diaspora are eager to help but are caught in a web of mistrust surrounding donation processes. The absence of a centralized organization that can effectively manage and coordinate relief efforts leaves us at a crossroads. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) under CARICOM exists, and seems to be in the best position to bridge this gap and engage the Caribbean diaspora, especially in the United States, to foster a unified and effective disaster management strategy.
Looking ahead to the 2025 hurricane season, there's an urgent call for community preparedness and collaboration. We need to come together to strategize with a focus on proactive planning rather than reactive scrambling. This is a conversation for everyone—community members and organizations alike. By publishing this episode early in the year, my hope is to spark dialogue that will lead to meaningful collective action. Let’s build a network of trust and efficiency, ensuring that when the storms hit, we are ready to stand strong together.
UPDATE: The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) exists under CARICOM. At the time of my initial research and recording, CDEMA did not accept public donations. It appears to have recently created an account to accept donations for Hurricane Beryl relief. While this is a step in the right direction, there is still a significant gap in the system.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Carry On Friends, theCaribbean American experience,
and in this episode, mawa reasonwith Uno a little bit.
So, with the 2024 hurricaneseason behind us and we look
ahead to 2025.
(00:25):
Now, if you don't know,hurricane season is from June to
November every year and thishas been happening at least
since the 1950s.
And I know this because, beinga man sing about 51 storm right,
but also, on a personal level,months seeing about 51 stop
(00:48):
right, but also on a personallevel.
I was old enough and rememberedwhat it was like going through
Hurricane Gilbert in Jamaica in1988.
As a child.
It's a very differentexperience now through the lens
of being a mom.
But, that said, the 2024hurricane season started really
early.
Normally hurricanes come aroundJuly because by then ocean
(01:13):
waters warm up or whatever.
But what I experienced duringthe hurricane season last year,
where Grenada, st Vincent,jamaica, other Caribbean
countries were impacted I foundthat there was a lot of activity
online and also, at the sametime, I was receiving texts from
(01:37):
people who wanted to be part ofthe relief efforts but they did
not trust, or rather, they didnot know who to trust or where
to send their money and who wasreputable, and all those
concerns are legitimate, and soherein lies the whole point of
(02:03):
this episode.
I want to talk about how we areapproaching disaster relief in
the Caribbean, and I've beenannoyed, you know, because since
I've been doing this podcastfor the last 10 years, there's
been some serious hurricaneseasons and it's the same thing.
So what happened in 2024, I'veseen something similar in prior
(02:27):
years and I've been annoyed,confused about how unorganized
the Caribbean, or maybe thediaspora, is around disaster
relief.
And when disaster happens in theCaribbean countries, that's
(02:50):
when there's a mobilization tocollect donations and that has a
place, yes, but my questiongoes back to hurricane season
happens every year from June toNovember and it just feels very
reactive, and then, to makematters worse, there's no
(03:12):
central place to send donations.
Again, people don't know who totrust, where to donate, because
there are too many places andpeople that are doing the same
thing.
This one is collecting money orthis one is promoting something
else over here, and it becomesvery confusing and we hurt our
(03:33):
own efforts because we'vediluted the focus, that people
don't know what to do, where tosend it to, whatever it is,
whether it's monetary donation,canned goods, clothes, all of
these things and people don'tknow who to trust.
And it's just frustrating for aregion that is impacted by
(03:55):
climate change, is mostlyreactive and fragmented when it
comes to disaster relief effortson the diaspora front.
Right, because, let's face it,most of the Caribbean countries,
they rely on the diaspora tosupport the relief efforts.
Right, and then, adding, on topof that I can speak as a
(04:16):
Jamaican right when you add thislayer of scamming, jamaica has
a.
It's a high corridor forscamming.
It is what it is right.
That increases the lack oftrust, because it appears that
everybody and their mother arecollect money or whatever, right
.
And so, as I was reflecting on2024, I'm like we need to do
(04:38):
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 theoptions are really.
And it's in having this thoughtprocess I discovered.
Well, let me tell you what Iwas thinking before I got to
where I discovered.
So the question I asked myselfwas like, why can't we have like
(04:59):
an NGO or some kind oforganization that's able to
accept donations, manage thedonations, the money, the funds,
and coordinates relief efforts?
And they would also beefficient to manage the money,
because, although hurricaneseason happens every year,
(05:20):
there's not always a hurricanethat causes disaster.
So they should also be able tomanage and distribute funds,
because there are differentprojects or different relief
efforts in different Caribbeancountries that would need to be
addressed year round.
Right, because if it's nothurricane, it's flooding.
You know we have volcanicactivity, you know there are a
(05:45):
whole heap of things going on inthe Caribbean that would need
relief or support, right?
And so that got me thinking.
And so the first place that I goto is CARICOM, the Caribbean
community.
Like, what can they do?
And that's how I came across.
It's called CDEMA and it's theCaribbean Disaster Emergency
(06:10):
Management Agency and it isCARICOM's disaster coordination
body.
I found an email address on thewebsite and I sent an email to
see if there was arepresentative who was
interested in coming on thepodcast, and I haven't received
any responses and I've sentmultiple emails.
(06:33):
But from what I gather is, theirmandate is for disaster
management across CARICOM memberstates or countries, right, and
I believe on the website itsays somewhere that they do not
accept public donations, whichthen creates a significant gap,
right?
So the question I was askingmyself why doesn't something
(06:56):
exist to manage the disasterrelief?
Right, there is a place thatdoes that.
It's called the CaribbeanDisaster Emergency Management
Agency, because in my head I wasthinking in American terms,
like FEMA.
So something exists, but theydon't accept donations.
So that still is part of thebigger problem that we have,
(07:18):
right?
So I'm like, all right, we stillneed to figure out how to
address the fragmented effortsof individual groups and
nonprofits.
You know, ad hoc things acrossthe diaspora.
I'm in America so I can seeAmerica, but I'm sure things are
happening in Canada and thingsare happening in the UK, right,
(07:42):
and each country might have itsown thing.
That's going on, right.
So I'm really focused onAmerica, since I live here and
we can speak a little bit moreto you know how American
nonprofit systems should operate, and so I was thinking, in
(08:03):
addition to this CDEMA existing,is it possible for us to have
an organization that is able tomaybe work with the CDEMA on
what needs funding or what areasneed funding?
Right, because this nonprofitthat I'm envisioning in my head
(08:25):
they are going to focus onhurricane relief.
Right, because hurricane is themost destructive.
But in the recent years, youknow, we've had earthquakes,
we're having volcanic activity,and every year, every year, we
have flooding and erosion againcoming up.
2024, a whole bunch of rainfall at Jamaica, right.
And so if this organization isable to accept donations
(08:49):
monetary donations or donationsor coordinate the collection of
canned goods or clothing orother things, in my head I'm
thinking that they're able todirect funds and supplies as
needed, as needed, right,supporting the rebuilding or the
(09:14):
shoring up or the strengtheningof infrastructure.
Right, because we know thathurricane season will come, we
need to make sure differentthings are updated or improved
or we're ready for the hurricaneseason.
In addition to collecting themoney, the public accountability
part is key, right, there hasto be transparency in how monies
(09:37):
are being collected.
You know, like an organizationany organization that collect
money, you want to give people areceipt so they can collect
money.
Right now, when I look onlineand people collecting money like
, yes, I donate my $20, but whatdid my $20 go towards?
Like I don't know, am I gettinga confirmation that this went
(09:58):
towards this?
So, in addition to publicaccountability, we need some
reporting, you know, on wherethat money was spent and the
impact of the money being spentin a particular area.
We need transparency, right?
So, in addition to collectingmoney, they have oversight.
You say, okay, we raised Xamount of money, this is where
(10:22):
money was spent.
It was spent in this country,that country, and it was spent
on doing X, y and Z and we alsoneed to see the impact of that
money being raised in thecommunity.
So, from an American perspective, we need to have audits.
You need to audit all the moneyI spend because, again, we know
(10:42):
that corruption exists in anyform.
So we still need to make sureso there's an audit to make sure
so nobody not teeth the moneyor mismanage the money, because
again, that continues to erodepublic trust.
Right, again, the impactreports are going to be critical
because, yes, I donate themoney, but you spend the money
(11:04):
there.
So why was the money beingspent there?
What is the outcome of themoney being spent there?
What is the outcome of themoney being spent there?
Do we have to go back and spendmoney in this particular area
every time?
Right, and that is going to beparticularly relevant if money
is being done on a projectthat's not necessarily a
(11:25):
hurricane relief activity,because with hurricane relief it
is more like getting food andrebuilding 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.
(11:46):
Strengthening our defensesagainst flood, erosion,
landslide, all of these things.
They impact almost allCaribbean countries.
Right, the Caribbean is.
It's so impacted and I'm just,I just want more awareness.
Now, if you're listening andyou're like Kerianne, something
exists.
That's great, but that alsohighlights part of the problem.
(12:06):
It's so fragmented that wedon't know that an organization
exists, and getting the word outto the community that they
exist is also part of this.
I don't have an answer.
Right, the diaspora clearlyplays a vital role in our
disaster relief efforts and, youknow, having a centralized,
(12:29):
trusted organization can makethe diasporic contributions more
impactful.
It can be, again, moreproactive.
We're not waiting until ahurricane hit.
We've already donated moneyyear round, etc.
Etc.
And so when we get the forecasta hurricane, it's mobilization
time.
(12:50):
It's not about oh, let's waitand see, and see what we're
collecting, we're mobilizing andwe're figuring out where
money's going to be dispersed to.
We could go into so manydetails about how an
organization like that canoperate, but that's just what
I'm thinking.
I really feel like we as aregion, need to figure out how
we're going to mature andleverage the power of the
(13:12):
diaspora in a more meaningfuland organized way to get things
done, because it's our impact.
And then let's be clear we alsohave like for Jamaica, for
instance, alumni Association allboys, all girls organizations
and they have specific mandatesRight, and their mandates are
(13:34):
very clear.
So if, in the hurricane, my oldhigh school was damaged, you
know the Caribbean, you know wholove the region and would like
to support.
It's not just for the diasporato organize and centralize the
(13:58):
collection and donation of funds.
You have people who love ourregion, love specific countries
and they want to support, butthey need trust in organizations
to do that.
And my question is as acommunity, what can we do?
So, if you know oforganizations, let me know.
I'd love to hear from you yourthoughts on this, because, when
(14:20):
it comes to whole moniescollected and trust, that's a
big issue for us.
And so, as we look ahead for2025, and that's why I'm
publishing this episode early inthe year, as a community,
different organizations cometogether and figure out what
we're going to do to prepareourselves for the upcoming
(14:42):
hurricane season.
I would love to hear from you.
Send a DM, send a message.
Hello at Carry On Friends, I'dlove to hear your thoughts on
this and until next episode,walk good.
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Carry On Friends, theCaribbean American experience,
and in this episode, mawa reasonwith Uno a little bit.
So, with the 2024 hurricaneseason behind us and we look
ahead to 2025.
(00:25):
Now, if you don't know,hurricane season is from June to
November every year and thishas been happening at least
since the 1950s.
And I know this because, beinga man sing about 51 storm right,
but also, on a personal level,months seeing about 51 stop
(00:48):
right, but also on a personallevel.
I was old enough and rememberedwhat it was like going through
Hurricane Gilbert in Jamaica in1988.
As a child.
It's a very differentexperience now through the lens
of being a mom.
But, that said, the 2024hurricane season started really
early.
Normally hurricanes come aroundJuly because by then ocean
(01:13):
waters warm up or whatever.
But what I experienced duringthe hurricane season last year,
where Grenada, st Vincent,jamaica, other Caribbean
countries were impacted I foundthat there was a lot of activity
online and also, at the sametime, I was receiving texts from
(01:37):
people who wanted to be part ofthe relief efforts but they did
not trust, or rather, they didnot know who to trust or where
to send their money and who wasreputable, and all those
concerns are legitimate, and soherein lies the whole point of
(02:03):
this episode.
I want to talk about how we areapproaching disaster relief in
the Caribbean, and I've beenannoyed, you know, because since
I've been doing this podcastfor the last 10 years, there's
been some serious hurricaneseasons and it's the same thing.
So what happened in 2024, I'veseen something similar in prior
(02:27):
years and I've been annoyed,confused about how unorganized
the Caribbean, or maybe thediaspora, is around disaster
relief.
And when disaster happens in theCaribbean countries, that's
(02:50):
when there's a mobilization tocollect donations and that has a
place, yes, but my questiongoes back to hurricane season
happens every year from June toNovember and it just feels very
reactive, and then, to makematters worse, there's no
(03:12):
central place to send donations.
Again, people don't know who totrust, where to donate, because
there are too many places andpeople that are doing the same
thing.
This one is collecting money orthis one is promoting something
else over here, and it becomesvery confusing and we hurt our
(03:33):
own efforts because we'vediluted the focus, that people
don't know what to do, where tosend it to, whatever it is,
whether it's monetary donation,canned goods, clothes, all of
these things and people don'tknow who to trust.
And it's just frustrating for aregion that is impacted by
(03:55):
climate change, is mostlyreactive and fragmented when it
comes to disaster relief effortson the diaspora front.
Right, because, let's face it,most of the Caribbean countries,
they rely on the diaspora tosupport the relief efforts.
Right, and then, adding, on topof that I can speak as a
(04:16):
Jamaican right when you add thislayer of scamming, jamaica has
a.
It's a high corridor forscamming.
It is what it is right.
That increases the lack oftrust, because it appears that
everybody and their mother arecollect money or whatever, right
.
And so, as I was reflecting on2024, I'm like we need to do
(04:38):
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 theoptions are really.
And it's in having this thoughtprocess I discovered.
Well, let me tell you what Iwas thinking before I got to
where I discovered.
So the question I asked myselfwas like, why can't we have like
(04:59):
an NGO or some kind oforganization that's able to
accept donations, manage thedonations, the money, the funds,
and coordinates relief efforts?
And they would also beefficient to manage the money,
because, although hurricaneseason happens every year,
(05:20):
there's not always a hurricanethat causes disaster.
So they should also be able tomanage and distribute funds,
because there are differentprojects or different relief
efforts in different Caribbeancountries that would need to be
addressed year round.
Right, because if it's nothurricane, it's flooding.
You know we have volcanicactivity, you know there are a
(05:45):
whole heap of things going on inthe Caribbean that would need
relief or support, right?
And so that got me thinking.
And so the first place that I goto is CARICOM, the Caribbean
community.
Like, what can they do?
And that's how I came across.
It's called CDEMA and it's theCaribbean Disaster Emergency
(06:10):
Management Agency and it isCARICOM's disaster coordination
body.
I found an email address on thewebsite and I sent an email to
see if there was arepresentative who was
interested in coming on thepodcast, and I haven't received
any responses and I've sentmultiple emails.
(06:33):
But from what I gather is, theirmandate is for disaster
management across CARICOM memberstates or countries, right, and
I believe on the website itsays somewhere that they do not
accept public donations, whichthen creates a significant gap,
right?
So the question I was askingmyself why doesn't something
(06:56):
exist to manage the disasterrelief?
Right, there is a place thatdoes that.
It's called the CaribbeanDisaster Emergency Management
Agency, because in my head I wasthinking in American terms,
like FEMA.
So something exists, but theydon't accept donations.
So that still is part of thebigger problem that we have,
(07:18):
right?
So I'm like, all right, we stillneed to figure out how to
address the fragmented effortsof individual groups and
nonprofits.
You know, ad hoc things acrossthe diaspora.
I'm in America so I can seeAmerica, but I'm sure things are
happening in Canada and thingsare happening in the UK, right,
(07:42):
and each country might have itsown thing.
That's going on, right.
So I'm really focused onAmerica, since I live here and
we can speak a little bit moreto you know how American
nonprofit systems should operate, and so I was thinking, in
(08:03):
addition to this CDEMA existing,is it possible for us to have
an organization that is able tomaybe work with the CDEMA on
what needs funding or what areasneed funding?
Right, because this nonprofitthat I'm envisioning in my head
(08:25):
they are going to focus onhurricane relief.
Right, because hurricane is themost destructive.
But in the recent years, youknow, we've had earthquakes,
we're having volcanic activity,and every year, every year, we
have flooding and erosion againcoming up.
2024, a whole bunch of rainfall at Jamaica, right.
And so if this organization isable to accept donations
(08:49):
monetary donations or donationsor coordinate the collection of
canned goods or clothing orother things, in my head I'm
thinking that they're able todirect funds and supplies as
needed, as needed, right,supporting the rebuilding or the
(09:14):
shoring up or the strengtheningof infrastructure.
Right, because we know thathurricane season will come, we
need to make sure differentthings are updated or improved
or we're ready for the hurricaneseason.
In addition to collecting themoney, the public accountability
part is key, right, there hasto be transparency in how monies
(09:37):
are being collected.
You know, like an organizationany organization that collect
money, you want to give people areceipt so they can collect
money.
Right now, when I look onlineand people collecting money like
, yes, I donate my $20, but whatdid my $20 go towards?
Like I don't know, am I gettinga confirmation that this went
(09:58):
towards this?
So, in addition to publicaccountability, we need some
reporting, you know, on wherethat money was spent and the
impact of the money being spentin a particular area.
We need transparency, right?
So, in addition to collectingmoney, they have oversight.
You say, okay, we raised Xamount of money, this is where
(10:22):
money was spent.
It was spent in this country,that country, and it was spent
on doing X, y and Z and we alsoneed to see the impact of that
money being raised in thecommunity.
So, from an American perspective, we need to have audits.
You need to audit all the moneyI spend because, again, we know
(10:42):
that corruption exists in anyform.
So we still need to make sureso there's an audit to make sure
so nobody not teeth the moneyor mismanage the money, because
again, that continues to erodepublic trust.
Right, again, the impactreports are going to be critical
because, yes, I donate themoney, but you spend the money
(11:04):
there.
So why was the money beingspent there?
What is the outcome of themoney being spent there?
What is the outcome of themoney being spent there?
Do we have to go back and spendmoney in this particular area
every time?
Right, and that is going to beparticularly relevant if money
is being done on a projectthat's not necessarily a
(11:25):
hurricane relief activity,because with hurricane relief it
is more like getting food andrebuilding 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.
(11:46):
Strengthening our defensesagainst flood, erosion,
landslide, all of these things.
They impact almost allCaribbean countries.
Right, the Caribbean is.
It's so impacted and I'm just,I just want more awareness.
Now, if you're listening andyou're like Kerianne, something
exists.
That's great, but that alsohighlights part of the problem.
(12:06):
It's so fragmented that wedon't know that an organization
exists, and getting the word outto the community that they
exist is also part of this.
I don't have an answer.
Right, the diaspora clearlyplays a vital role in our
disaster relief efforts and, youknow, having a centralized,
(12:29):
trusted organization can makethe diasporic contributions more
impactful.
It can be, again, moreproactive.
We're not waiting until ahurricane hit.
We've already donated moneyyear round, etc.
Etc.
And so when we get the forecasta hurricane, it's mobilization
time.
(12:50):
It's not about oh, let's waitand see, and see what we're
collecting, we're mobilizing andwe're figuring out where
money's going to be dispersed to.
We could go into so manydetails about how an
organization like that canoperate, but that's just what
I'm thinking.
I really feel like we as aregion, need to figure out how
we're going to mature andleverage the power of the
(13:12):
diaspora in a more meaningfuland organized way to get things
done, because it's our impact.
And then let's be clear we alsohave like for Jamaica, for
instance, alumni Association allboys, all girls organizations
and they have specific mandatesRight, and their mandates are
(13:34):
very clear.
So if, in the hurricane, my oldhigh school was damaged, you
know the Caribbean, you know wholove the region and would like
to support.
It's not just for the diasporato organize and centralize the
(13:58):
collection and donation of funds.
You have people who love ourregion, love specific countries
and they want to support, butthey need trust in organizations
to do that.
And my question is as acommunity, what can we do?
So, if you know oforganizations, let me know.
I'd love to hear from you yourthoughts on this, because, when
(14:20):
it comes to whole moniescollected and trust, that's a
big issue for us.
And so, as we look ahead for2025, and that's why I'm
publishing this episode early inthe year, as a community,
different organizations cometogether and figure out what
we're going to do to prepareourselves for the upcoming
(14:42):
hurricane season.
I would love to hear from you.
Send a DM, send a message.
Hello at Carry On Friends, I'dlove to hear your thoughts on
this and until next episode,walk good.
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