Every year the Dominica Olympic Committee joins the rest of the international community in celebrating the olympic spirit through the Olympic Day Run. This is in honour of the foundation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 23rd June 1894 in Paris, France. This year marked the second time that I have participated although this year it crept up on me like a thief in the night. Let me explain:

Newtown aka Harlem may be the mecca of football in Dominica but for sure Bath Estate is the future. And every year, we prove again and again why that is so with a crop of young talent that bag trophy after trophy in all leagues, be it the national or off season football leagues. If only we could be Cesseme Street this year, then all would be good.

Flowers got to me this week, so i'm posting shots of anthuriums as the pics of the week. A few years ago the Anthurium Late Blight demolished the local anthurium production, leaving all farmers/growers with nothing but empty shadehouses and farm lands. Anthuriums in Dominica are usually grown under shade netting or in forested areas where the plants can recieve shade during its growth period.

Arguably his truest lyrics, according to his own words. Although not my favourite song of Michael (I have many favourites), I felt it appropriate to share it:

Yesterday I was on the radio with the Peace Corps Volunteer of the National Youth Council of Dominica promoting our Summer Camp, 2009. It was a great experience until some callers decided to make petty, trivial comments that had nothing to do with the spirit of what was being discussed. At that moment, I understood clearly what people have been saying for a long time. Dominicans just like to talk for the sake of talking and make every non-issue the issue at hand.

Yes, I finally accepted one of the hundreds of invites I keep getting from friends to join Facebook. I guess I will find out what the craze is about now although I think i'm already hooked.

I've been going on that site every other minute to get updates, to reply to contacts... guess i'm a fan of Facebook now.

Check out my page

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the German development finance institution DEG announced that they have created a new private equity fund that will invest in Africa’s health sector. The Health in Africa Fund will invest in small- and medium-sized companies in sub-Saharan Africa, such as health clinics and diagnostic centers, with the goal of helping low-income Africans gain access to affordable, high-quality health services. The fund will help implement key recommendations of IFC’s report, ‘The Business of Health in Africa: Partnering with the Private Sector to Improve People’s Lives,’ which found that the private sector already delivers about half of all health-related goods and services in Africa, and that greater investment in private health companies could have major health and economic benefits for low-income Africans.

The World Bank’s Environmental Department is seeking civil society representatives to serve as observers on two Climate Investment Fund (CIF) Trust Fund Committees. The Bank has contracted a leading public policy dispute resolution organization, RESOLVE, to manage this self-selection process. The CIFs, which are managed by the World Bank and implemented jointly with the Regional Development Banks, were established through an inclusive and consultative process in support of the Bali Action Plan and approved by the World Bank Board in July 2008. Application forms, criteria, and instructions for the observer seats are available on the RESOLVE website (www.resolv.org/cif). Application instructions and criteria will be posted in Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian/Khmer, French, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, and Turkish during the week of June 15. Completed applications are due by Wednesday, July 2. CSO Observers Sought for Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
The Bank’s Environmental Department is seeking civil society representatives to serve as observers on two Climate Investment Fund (CIF) Trust Fund Committees. The Bank has contracted a leading public policy dispute resolution organization, RESOLVE, to manage this self-selection process. The CIFs, which are managed by the World Bank and implemented jointly with the Regional Development Banks, were established through an inclusive and consultative process in support of the Bali Action Plan and approved by the World Bank Board in July 2008. Application forms, criteria, and instructions for the observer seats are available on the RESOLVE website (www.resolv.org/cif). Application instructions and criteria will be posted in Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian/Khmer, French, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, and Turkish during the week of June 15. Completed applications are due by Wednesday, July 15.

Visit the website: www.resolv.org/cif for more details

I was speaking to my neighbour yesterday and talking to him about poetry, he is also a poet, and he said something to me that resonated and influenced my latest poem (wrote it last night). He said a poet must reflect his society and should also be able to speak for the people and about the people. In plain english, a poet should be part and parcel of his community.

So i got to thinking about my country and the hot issues of the day and this poem just glided out of the tip of my pen, off course i had to go back a few times and edit and realign the verses and so forth but i hope the final product does justice and speaks from the Dominican perspective. I also used a lot of Dominican lingo, not really the french styled creole, just our broken english.

So here it is:

De Dominican Gift
By Delroy “Nesta” Williams

Society in a rift,
Blue say is borboll
While red convince is a gift.
So much debate about de bin purchase
And who truly benefit,
Look I hear is campaign money dat trafficking,
An’ me neighbour say cocaine money dey laundering.
But as garbage bin knock down
Look fertilizer issue jump in de boxing ring,
But de poor farmer man, he eh talking
Cuz he love de handout ting.
Yes, de man love de "salt"
An’ he eh care who at fault,
Rubbish bin or fertilizer doh matter to him,
Or if de Big Man wrongly profiting
As long as is de Labour Party dat winning.

Now, Blue looking confident
But inside dey panicking,
An all de rest, dey afraid and shaking
Cuz dey know de PM cunning an’ convincing,
Too much psychology an’ philosophy.
De likle man eh understanding,
Dat wrong is wrong.
Yes, all borboll is borboll,
Whether red, blue or green
In de end is Dominica dat losing.

I cyah wait eh
For de next borboll to expose.
Yes, Boy everyday I listening.
Every morning I tune to Q,
To dat radio station, I man glue
From de moment I rise
Is Matt in de morning
An Saturday, between Me and You.
Till Election Day come and pass,
Then we go see who really win de race
And who come dead lass.

I doh care who win or lose,
Cuz it clear dey all de same
Doing de same damn ting
An one accusing de oda of cheating
But de sad thing is eh,
Dem poor people always along for de ride
Only seeing blue, green an’ red.
Boy, dey really colour mad or colour blind.
I waiting for de election meley
As society continue de rift,
Yes, dat is truly de Dominican gift…