#BTSpeakingOut- Building a resilient Barbados

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Kammie Holder

Permit me to muse on life as a stage, in which we are all actors. Some will be played, and others will be players. None of us will ever get out of this life’s journey alive. We can drift through life aimlessly in the wind, or harness the potential of the wind.

During December, my vehicle was attacked and extensively damaged by a big black mad cow in Easy Hall, St John. Some would say, ‘Oh My God’, but I say, it could be worse. As an eternal optimist and a pragmatist, I think perhaps my life’s interruption was to protect me from some calamity that lay ahead or to postpone my fate. During November, I lost my friend, Black Jacobin, a true Pan Africanist, humanist, legal coach and attorney Douglas Trotman, who is now holding brief on a higher plane.

Positivity not only leads to a longer lifespan, but also ensures greater coping skills during tough times. Now you know why I am so calm in the midst of bulls who want to gore me, and dragons who wish to slay me.

Very often, we prefer to curse the darkness rather than light a candle. It’s my humble belief we are shaped by our beliefs, interactions with others, and occurrences in life.

On December 15th, 2021, Barbados had another blackout. Many ranted, but how many stopped to search their minds on how to monetize an optional home power supply system to power essential equipment in homes? What if the underwater submarine cables to the North and South carrying internet traffic are severed? What will happen to commerce? In November, as a Prepper, I sent my first email via Ham Radio to the outside world via a gateway 1290 km away in the Dominican Republic. Another first in November was the ability to use a 2M radio to receive a radio signal from a Ham Radio operator in Mongolia who bounced a signal off a passing meteor some 60 miles above the earth. Let us, as a country, think beyond the box and push beyond our comfort zones to solve our challenges.

As a farmer, I am concerned about the absence of string beans in Barbados and watermelon seeds. In the absence of a seed bank, what would happen to Barbados’ ability to feed itself if supply chains were totally disrupted? Who certifies the biosafety of vegetables in a country where cervical cancer rates are the fourth highest in the world? We cannot continue as a water-scarce country, to flush expensive potable water down our toilets.

Barbados must ensure resilience and sustainability by embracing the seven resilience pillars of competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control if we are to be a model sovereignty that punches above its weight.

Truth be told, our thoughts will determine if we swim or sink.

We cannot, as a country, use rote and conventional thinking in an exponentially changing world.