Caribbean youngsters describe living through a hurricane
The following column appeared in a number of APG of East Central Minnesota newspapers in February-March, 2020, including the Morrison County Record.
The column begins:
Caribbean youngsters describe living
through a hurricane
The column begins:
For this former history teacher, it was flawed and frustrating. For a tourist, it was stunning, spectacular and sad. “This” was a recent 10-day cruise through several Caribbean islands. And there was an unexpected plus — discovering 8- and 12-year-old authors in the British West Indies who’ve written books many youngsters will enjoy.
Three family members and I started in Puerto Rico late in January and spent more than a week on a cruise ship that visited several islands, including St. Thomas, Dominica and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. We saw lush forests, steep hills, stunning beaches and bright flowers. These were terrific treats for Minnesotans in January.
An unexpected highlight was visiting Serendipity Books and Toys on Tortola and finding two remarkable books. Amia Wheatley, a 12-year-old living in the British Virgin Islands, wrote “Hurricane Irma Through My Eyes.” Declan, her 8-year-old brother, wrote “My Favorite Beaches in the British Virgin Islands.” Both include pictures and are available from Amazon.
Their mother, Alfreda Gordon-Wheatley, has a Facebook page. She’s willing to ask her children questions other students have. Alfreda, Amia and Declan told me, among other things, that six months passed after the hurricane before electricity returned to their home and beaches fouled by raw sewage were clean enough for swimming and that their Jeep was swept down a hill into bushes, where it still sits.
The rest of the column can be found here
March 2, 2020 @ 12:25 pm
I feel strongly about how US -based cruise ships tend to slant history toward US perspectives or interpretations. A few years ago, I went on a Russia river cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow run by a Russian river cruise company, and we had local tour guides and speakers the entire week. Sometimes it was obvious that we were getting the “Russian” slant on history- but the historic information was much more authentic . I think your recommendation to include local tour guides on ships is very important.