Actions

Goals

Post-hurricane missions:

True to the original goal of the Foundation Water Love, which is sustainable development, as well as to our commitment to the fishermen’s community of Scott’s Head, we decided to help our friends in Dominica via fundraising.

 

We wouldn’t pretend to be any substitute for the first-response efforts of the international  aid organisation; instead, we want to focus our efforts on the medium and long term. By bringing the fishermen help and equipment to gradually resume their economic activity.

 

Three weeks after the hurricane, when we launched this website, the inhabitants have lost and need everything, starting with water and food. They currently get supplies of these from individuals arriving by boat from Guadeloupe and Martinique (French West Indies), as well as soldiers from different countries bringing first-aid emergency supplies (daily deliveries of water, and food every other day).

 

Since the catastrophe, as soon as local phones were working again after a blackout lasting more than 72 hours, we’ve been in daily touch with various Scott’s Head residents, who keep us updated about the village’s situation and relay the community’s most pressing needs. So we were able to draw up the following list, raise funds and goods thanks to your genrosity and some companies in Guadaloupe, and bring most of these items :

Water

Food

Tools

Clothes

Fishing materials

Water filters

Fishing nets

Water containers

Generators and solar panels

Achievements

Completed Actions:

Since the creation of the Water Love Foundation, the following initiatives have been put into place with the Soufriere Scott’s Head fishermen’s community.

These initiatives were accomplished thanks to the commitment of French professionals volunteering on the project as freediving instructors, first aid and lifesaving instructors, carpenters and builders. Each volunteer paid for his own transportation and food during his work on the project. The first fiscal year of the foundation was guaranteed by our private funds, used to buy all materials, safety and water gear, as well as renting accommodation for volunteers and paying local workers’ salaries.

Construction of fishing boat shelters on Scott’s Head Beach

Cleaning of coastline and underwater environment in the marine reserve: daily garbage pickup by our team and local volunteers, as well as the village children

Building bridges with the teachers of Soufriere primary school, the DWA and the LAMA to promote children’s environmental education

Diving gear loaned for free to professional fisherman when needed (masks, fins, snorkels, wetsuits): 50 loans of mask/fin/snorkel kits to retrieve fishing equipment

First aid and lifesaving training of the nature-reserve wardens and village youth: 50 hours of training for 12 young students lasting 4 months from December 2016 to April 2017.

Assistance retrieving nets and fish traps stuck or lost underwater

Building refuse bins to help ease the problematic management of the village’s domestic waste

Watersports gear given for free use to local kids : 1,100 loans of fins, masks, snorkels, buoys to discover the underwater world and have fun in water

Training of professional fishermen concerning safety at sea

Swimming lessons and introduction to snorkeling for village kids and local youth from the region

Construction of a 25 square meter beach hut to run the community project’s activities on Scott’s Head Beach

Building awareness of the problem of plastic waste and suggesting viable alternatives for daily life (Ecocups, cloth shopping bags, biodegradable lunchboxes) through workshops with snacks’ owners