<![CDATA[NIKITA SHIEL-ROLLE

<![CDATA[NIKITA SHIEL-ROLLE - Blog]]>Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:07:21 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[You Killed My people]]>Mon, 16 Sep 2019 16:29:15 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/you-killed-my-peopleThese past two week have been like none other. The emotions that I have experienced and that I am working to express is beyond me. The pain that I have seen and heard, I don't have words. The stories are unthinkable and unimaginable, and yet this is our reality.

As I sat in Cat Island watching Hurricane Dorian's path two weeks ago I knew I had to do something. That something became the Cat Island Conservation Institute.

On Saturday we had over 30 incredible Bahamian Millennials representing Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Long Island, Grand Bahama, Abaco, New Providence, and Cat Island at our first Think Tank. We came together because Enough is Enough. I am 32 and the entire time that I have been in school I have learned about global warming and climate change.

I am furious that the majority of our parents and their generation have not taken Climate Change seriously. I am in pain listening to people younger than me speak about the fear that they have about their future. The desperation and helplessness in their voices is overwhelming.

In 1992, I had just celebrated my 4th birthday when the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit was held in Brazil. It was during this meeting that for the first time, in an international setting, the connection between Climate Change and Small Island Developing States vulnerability was mentioned. This was known as Agenda 21. It’s been nearly 3 decades since there has been international acknowledgement of our vulnerability. The first scientific article that reported climate change was in 1896 by Svante Arrhenius, that is 123 years ago!

My birthday cake was a chocolate cheese cake and it was amazing!
My birthday is June 11, The Earth Summit was June 3rd-14th

As a world, we know that our climate has been and is rapidly changing. The top scientists have told us that things needed to change. However, the people of this world who have the power to make the crucial changes refused to listen. They have preferred to listen to the fringe scientists being paid by the fossil fuel industry as opposed to the millions who want to survive. It's easier to turn a blind eye, when they call us crazy environmentalists. They use words like radical, quirky, and extreme, to try and belittle what we have been saying. They call us tree huggers and every other name under the sun because the truth makes them feel uncomfortable.

Areal Footage of Hurricane Dorian Damage in Abaco

Every single person who denies climate change, you are responsible. Every single person that acknowledges climate change, and refuses to act, you are responsible. The governments of the Nations who heard our cries for change, had the power to act, and blatantly said no, you will be held accountable. I want to be explicitly clear, YOU SAID NO, you would not change your behaviour because your country would lose too much money- you are responsible, and we are going to work together to address the Climate Crisis at hand. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley said it best:

Enough is Enough. This is abuse. In the past few years we have seen Haiti (2016), Barbuda (2017), Puerto Rico (2017), Dominica (2017), and us in The Bahamas (2015, 2017, 2019) be destroyed. As Island Nations we produce less than 1% of total emissions that contribute to global climate change, yet every year one of us has been destroyed.

We've all seen it in movies. The Abusers, beat the life out of the victim and then swoop in to rescue.

"Oh you poor little country, that Hurricane was so bad, we could never have imagined anything like that, that was a once in a hundred year storm."

And then what do our Abusers do: They help us with the immediate recovery, like tending to a battered woman, they hug us, and kiss us, and tell us how they are here for us.

We are sad, we are broken, we are dead, our people are dead.

As victims in this abusive relationship we say thank you to our abuser, we bow down and grovel. We tell them that we love them more than we ever did. The thing about abuse, is that deep down we know our abusers have no intentions of changing their behaviour, or seeking the help that they need to transform.

So what do we do, The Small Island Nation Victims. We go back to our abusers, because that's all we know. We have been immersed in such darkness, we can't imagine a life where we are not beholden to our abusers.

The United States, China, and the European Union are the largest economies responsible for the greatest emissions and they represent the largest investors in The Bahamas. Jason Hickel, an anthropologist at Goldsmith’s University of London describes the asymmetric relationship between the global north and the global south. He describes that developed countries not only contribute more to climate change than we do, the global south, they financially benefit more from our economies than we do. Those of us living in the global south (this includes Small Island Developing States) don’t see the material benefit of our economies in the same way that the global north do.

Quoting the latest research on this topic “in 2012, the last year of recorded data, developing countries received a total of about $1.3 trillion in total inflows. That same year, some $3.3 trillion flowed out of them. In other words, the South sent $2 trillion more to the rest of the world than they received.” This financially abusive relationship bolsters the environmentally abusive relationship, keeping the Small Island Developing States in this cycle of pain. This is an abusive relationship.

An Oil Spill in Grand Bahama after Hurricane Dorian

As Bahamians we must acknowledge our complicit role in supporting the systems that are killing us. We must acknowledge that the majority of the direct deaths from Hurricane Dorian, based on the information available to us at this time, are migrants. Our Bahamian society is structured in a way where migrants are the most vulnerable, we take advantage of their cheap labour that drives the Bahamian economy, and we accuse them of taking our jobs. Many of the victims of Hurricane Dorian were stateless having been born in The Bahamas to Haitian parents.

As we receive help from our International friends we must say thank you AND. We must be very clear that we welcome their donations, and that the donations are not enough. Nations with the power to mitigate against climate change must do so. It is the Bahamas today that is suffering, it has been our brothers and sisters in the region in the recent past, and it will be the entire globe in the near future.

As Bahamians we need to take a hard look at the way that we structure our own society. As Bahamians we have often thought of ourselves as separate from and superior to our Caribbean neighbours. I remember being an undergrad at the University of Miami, diving into these conversations with students from the Caribbean Students Association, which I was a proud member of.

University of Miami Caribbean Students Association Ms. Florida Caribbean Pageant 2007...I'm repping The Ocean (and The Bahamas) in Blue.

Establishing the Cat Island Conservation Institute was an intervention. Hosting the first of many Think Tank’s was incredible. Brilliant and passionate minds from throughout the Bahamas came together in New Providence to draft a Climate Crisis Declaration, develop a Climate Crisis Action Plan, and be explicitly clear that Enough is Enough.

I am not here to blame or shame you. I am not hear to convince you that Climate Change is real, that time is long past. This is a time for unified action. In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, I am saying enough is enough and that together we must and we will dismantle the oppressive systems that perpetuate the inequalities that have killed my people.

The Cat Island Conservation Institute is part of a global movement that I am honoured and humbled to be involved in. The world as we know it today has created socio-economic, political, and educational institutions based on injustice, and has marginalised and abandoned the people and natural habitats that are most vulnerable. As a consequence, access to resources, power, basic human living standards, and pristine, biodiverse ecosystems have been compromised.

This planet is our home. This planet is our life line for future generations to come. It is up to us, to show up, take pride and ownership in the ecosystems we rely on, the community we count on, and the critical role that each of us play in remembering that when we invest in that which sustains us, we thrive.

Those of us who are living in The Bahamas, we survived Hurricane Dorian. Today we are Climate Survivors. My question is how long will we be able to survive?

My work is conservation. Successful conservation requires the reallocation of resources to marginalised groups of people, the dismantling of hierarchical power structures, and the remembering of the liberatory power of love.

I am sad, I am furious, and I am determined. I know that at the end of the day I will be able to look at myself in the mirror and say that I have done everything within my power to contribute to preparing The Bahamas and the region to adapt to the climate crisis we are in so that we can survive these monster storms. While our survival is important it is not enough. It is our inherent right as humans on planet earth to thrive. I am committed to doing everything within my capacity to hold nations and governments accountable to mitigate the changes taking place in our climate.

There is a long road ahead of us. It has been a stressful week. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I am taking the rest of the day to honour my energy so that I can continue this fight. I am working weekly with my Freedom Dula so that I have a space to process what I am going through. I am going back to therapy because I am in pain, I am grieving, and I will not fall back into another deep dark depression.

In doing this work I am confronted daily with racism, classism, sexual harassment, and the list goes on. This is not ok. I am not ok. This is a fight. Combating Climate Change is our World War III. The difference is that this war is not and will not be fought with guns, and bombs. This War will be won through the liberatory power of love and solidarity with one another.

This is a movement, the work of the Cat Island Conservation Institute is bigger than me, and bigger than The Bahamas. I want to work with you. We must work together. This is how you can get involved:

Email cici@ymebahamas.org with you ideas of how we can work together.
Become a CICI Thought Leader by filling out this form and help us implement our Climate Crisis Action Plan.
Make a donation to Young Marine Explorers so that we can finance this work.
Like, share, and engage with our CICI social media accounts @CICIBahamas
Honour your energy, listen to your body, rest when you need to rest, eat when you need to eat, develop a support team. This fight requires endurance, and I need you by my side.
Talk to your neighbours, get to know them, talk about climate change and disaster preparedness. Remember, Hurricane Season is not over and you may need each other.

Sending you love from The Ocean,
Nikita

]]><![CDATA[Racism, Witchcraft, and Wealth]]>Mon, 04 Feb 2019 17:16:52 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/racism-witchcraft-and-wealth

Privilege, race, history, oppression. These are loaded words, and words that are constantly on my mind. I am going to explore these concepts in relation to my life but first I need to provide context.

My background
As many of you know I am biracial, half Irish, half Bahamian, born in Canada. Due to my luck and good fortune at birth I instantly became a citizen of three countries. I was 14 when I mentally claimed my identity as Bahamian. When I went to boarding school in Canada I had spent the first 7 years of my life in Canada and the subsequent 7 in The Bahamas. Arriving at boarding school, it was abundantly clear to me that I was Bahamian. Yes I held a Canadian passport, yes I had fond memories of my early childhood in Canada, but in my heart I was Bahamian. I was Irish too, but at the time I had no connection to my Irish Identity. It was in Stratford Ontario that I owned my Bahamian identity.

It should be noted that I hated the Bahamas as a seven year old. My mom still has letters that I wrote to her from the comfort of my bedroom, and delivered to hear in her bedroom, explaining how much I hated living in The Bahamas and that I wanted to move back to Canada. Culturally The Bahamas was so different from Canada and I didn't really fit in.

In Canada I attended High Park Montessori School, a fun, learn at your pace approach to education. Half way through second grade, December 11, 1994, I was exactly 7 and a half years old, we moved to The Bahamas. I then became a student at Kings Way Academy, an academically rigid christian school. I was lost, and struggled as a student there. Kings Way wasn't the right fit for my family, one, they beat children, and although culturally in The Bahamas that was a thing, my family didn't do beating..... we did time out, and were deprived things. Some of my black friends might call that a white approach to discipline. The real kicker, I believe, was that I came home from school one day and told my mom that my teacher told me dinosaurs never existed..... I was obsessed with dinosaurs. The creationist approach to science at Kings Way wasn't working for my family and we relocated to Lyford Cay School. Lyford Cay is an elite private international school in The Bahamas. I loved my time at Lyford Cay, and being a student at Lyford had it's own set of challenges. For example I wanted a Filipino housekeeper to pick me up in a golf cart after school as opposed to being picked up by my parents in their car. At Lyford many students were picked up by their housekeeper or maid. Growing up we had a Hatian housekeeper, but she didn't do school runs because my parents picked us up from school in their car, which i was hella embarrassed about because it wasn't a fancy car. When I met other children who didn't go to my school I was extremely reluctant to tell them what school I went to. This was because I would be instantly classified as a rich kid. Somehow I felt shame associated with attending Lyford Cay. The minute the name of my school came out of my mouth I felt judged, I felt as though they thought I was a spoiled rich kid. And to this day, I get the same judgement.

Let's get into this
A friend of mine on Cat Island told me that I grew up with a golden spoon in my mouth and that he grew up using clam shells. It's interesting because I never would have thought that I had a golden spoon, maybe a silver one, but not golden. I grew up with children who's parents were millionaires and billionaires. My parent's didn't have a yacht or private plane but some of my friends parents did. I knew that there were families who had a lot more money than my parents did, but it didn't really phase me. I had everything I needed and wanted. When I think of rich and wealth, I don't think of my family. I thought we were just normal. I had parents who worked hard and provided for their children

I went to boarding school, and then directly to University of Miami. I didn't realise that both of those were privileges. Many Bahamians who went to college did time at College of the Bahamas before they went of to University. Most Bahamians never had the opportunity to go off to university or even attend COB.

As my work with YME developed I realised that I wanted to work with students who had less access to resources and opportunities than I had. As a student at UM I started to realise the disparity in wealth and opportunity that exists in The Bahamas. I wanted my work to combat that. YME started working exclusively with public schools and this introduced me to a different side of The Bahamas. I met and developed amazing relationships with students and parents who's family life and socioeconomic upbringing were extremely different from mine. My time spent with YME members and their family made me realise that I came from privilege, although I may not have been aware of it.

Race
As a biracial child I grew up never fitting in. I was called white by my black cousins, called black, by my white cousins. I was told that I "acted white", or I became the authority for and representative of black culture depending on what race I was spending time with.

To this day, no one believes that I am a Bahamian, maybe it's because of my accent, or the way that I look. I have spent every waking moment defending my heritage. Then when i drop that I am a Rolle ( the largest slave owner in the Bahamas was Lord Rolle), nope, I can't be a Rolle, I am too white to be a Rolle. Rolle's are black..... or in another disturbing reference.. I am too pretty to be a Rolle, Rolle's don't have light skin and curly hair......... if that statement isn't problematic I don't know what is. ( As an aside, I often feel really uncomfortable when people reference how beautiful mixed children are, but I am not going to get into that now.)

I have grown up not belonging, but yet aware that when I am around black people, the light colour of my skin gives me privilege, the assumption is that I come from wealth, that I am well educated, that I posses "white, positive characteristics". When I am around white people I am aware that I am the black person, the assumption is that I am not well educated or could ever have multiple degrees. There is an overwhelming sense of shock and awe when people learn that I have traveled the world, am fluent in Spanish, or have degrees from prestiges universities. And then there are the comments in conversations, such as you are not like "them" - them being black people. You are "different" - different from the black person.

Cat Island
Moving to Cat Island has shaken me to the core. I wasn't aware of how insulated my world in Nassau was. I frequented a handful of establishments. Everything else I considered to be "too ghetto". I didn't spend time in the inner city in Nassau. I lived and functioned along the coast, as did my circle of friends. Although I thought I was a "woke" young educated Bahamian, I oozed privilege, and for the most part I was oblivious to it.

The socioeconomic structure of Cat Island is different from Nassau. My circle of 30 to 40 something year old's who are alumni of a select few private schools in Nassau, and all went to University outside of the Bahamas weren't with me anymore. I realised that I wasn't as "woke" a I though I was.

For the most part Cat Island has two communities. The 55 year old+ retired white people who have made Cat Island home. Some are permanent residents and others only spend a few weeks a year on the Island. I'm not going to use the word rich, because I think rich is relative, but members of this community for the most part have enough residual income to spend time in Cat Island. The second community are the locals, who are black, the vast majority are descendants of slaves who would have been brought to Cat Island years ago. There aren't many white collar jobs on the island. Most locals work in the tourism service industry, are fishers, tradesmen, or civil servants working in the various government offices. Within the local population, literacy levels are low and not many people have had tertiary education.

I have and continue to develop amazing friendships with people from both Cat Island communities. I don't like that I refer to it as two communities, but it's the case. There is of course a crossover between communities, but for the most part these communities operate within isolation although they both depend on each other.

I am not of either community, but I operate within both. I am being exposed to two different realities that is making me want to understand who I am at the intersection of race, privilege, and oppression. I have begun learning about my Irish heritage and it blew me away to find out that there is over 13,000 years of written history about the Irish. There is so much about my Irish history that I can learn about. As I stood at the Deveaux Plantation the other day in Port Howe I realised that my Bahamian history that I know of goes back to my ancestors being brought to the Bahamas on slave ship. As far as which country they originated from, I assume somewhere in West Africa but I don't really know.

I think there is something to be said about a people who can't directly connect with their heritage. As I am learning about who I am and where I came from, I can't help but reference the impact that slavery has had on the Bahamian black people, and I see it here in Cat Island. The slave mentality is real, and I think as Bahamians it's something that we need to explore. Growing up in The Bahamas, I knew I was a descendent of a slave but, we don't talk about our slave history. We sweep it under the rug with so many other things.

I talk about race a lot these days, and white privilege. I know it makes some of my white friends uncomfortable. I have been learning about traditional religions and forms of spirituality that predate Christianity and the Abrahamic religions. This has led me to explore Druids and paganism from my Irish identity and Obeah from my Bahamian Identity. I think it is fascinating that while both spiritual practices are dubbed witchcraft and shunned by Christianity the dominant religion in the Bahamas and Ireland. I can't help but think that Christianity was imposed upon both my Irish and Bahamian decedents by their oppressors as a way to control them.

It's 2019
I am a person of colour, with a rich cultural heritage. I am constantly in positions where I have to defend the colour of my skin, my heritage, my education, and my size. I hear racially charged comments directed towards me or others. I am trying to navigate this world where the colour of my skin impacts my perceived value as a human being. I talk about race a lot and I know it makes people uncomfortable. I have white friends who ask me when are we just going to move on and put all of this in our past.

Moving on really isn't that simple, and I firmly believe people can only say that we should move on if they have never been a victim of racism or oppression. It would be great if we could all be hunky dory but we can't. Black people were enslaved and we are still dealing with the aftermath of that. If we weren't. The white man who assumes that I am a waitress wouldn't be so damn surprised to find out that I am scientists. This happens way too often and it makes my blood boil. I don't understand why the person that I am interacting with doesn't assume that I am a doctor or that I work in finance. Why is it that the white person always assumes that I am the help. Not that there is anything wrong with being the help, the problem is when multiple white people always assume that I am the help. Interestingly enough, a black person would never think that I am the "help" because of the colour of my skin and the way that I speak, and that too has fundamental issues.

To my white friends  who ask why can't we just move past everything. We can't just move on from the past because as a person of colour our history impacts how we operate in society, and how society operates with us. We clearly have issues to resolve when black women and men are bleaching their skin because they think looking brighter or whiter is more beautiful. This stems from our history and is only one example as to why we need to address and study racism. This process will not be easy, it will be uncomfortable, and painful, and feelings will get hurt.

The realities that we face today are directly tied to our history. I am half white and half black, in some cases I have a lot of privilege, in others I am a victim of oppression. I believe we have to educate ourselves around our history and the impact of oppression and privilege. I don't have the answers. I am educating myself and engaging in dialogue about race, privilege and oppression because this is the reality that I live in. I believe this is something that we all must do.

If you read this entire post, you are awesome. If i said something that was triggering, or said something that you don't agree with, let's talk about. I am not an authority on race relations and privilege. I'm just a mixed chick trying to navigate this world that I live in.

]]><![CDATA[Conch Gone...]]>Tue, 29 Jan 2019 19:04:52 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/conch-goneOn every inhabited Bahamian Island old queen conch shells can be found. These shells are 95% calcium carbonate, and provide home to the large snail that Bahamians love so much. If you grew up as a child in The Bahamas prior to 2008 the one scientific name that you knew off the top of your head was Strombus gigas. Thanks to genetics and taxonomy the species formally known as Strombus gigas is now Lobatus gigas.... I know, it's a shock to the system..... everything I thought I knew has changing.... look at pluto....that folks is science. The more we learn about the world we live in, the better we become at refining our knowledge base.

These old conch shells represent so much more than the life of a conch. Within each shell are memories of friends grilling conch on a Saturday afternoon. A tourist being introduced to conch fritters on their first trip to the Bahamas, experiencing the joy of the "conchy" pieces mixed in batter with herbs and spices and deep friend. The shell of the conch tells a story of the fisher who was towed behind the back of the boat diving conch all afternoon. These shells remind us about the times when mothers, fathers or grandparents taught children how to remove the conch from the shell. Conch would have been one of the more easily accessible sources of protein for the slaves and loyalists in the 1700's.

The Queen Conch is deeply ingrained in our cultural identity as Bahamians. This is why when reports that our conch fisheries is about to collapse we should be extremely concerned.

Things you should know about our conch fisheries:

We currently have a 650,000 lb quota for the export of conch. This has never been met, but there is a call from individuals in the fishing community to increase this quota. It should be noted that not all industry members want this to be increased.
In 2015 about 881,849 lbs of conch was caught in The Bahamas and about 440,925 lbs were exported.
The bulk of the conch exports are going to Florida, however there has now been an increase in requests for conch coming from Canada.
International fisheries exports make up about 3% of our national GDP with conch exports contributing to less than half of a percent of our national GDP
Our total conch landings are down.

Some recommendations to curtail the extinction of conch include but are not limited to:

A complete prohibition of international export of conch
Requiring conch to be landed in shells to discourage the harvesting of undersized conch and to assist enforces identify when undersized conch has been landed
Strictly enforcing the use of compressors - Compressors or ONLY allowed in the harvesting of spiny lobster during the lobster season.
Prohibiting foreign vessels from harvesting conch.

The reality is that as Bahamians we need to come together and address this issues. We must educate ourselves using the latest science available about our conch populations. We need to engage with every stakeholder, children, fishers, business owners, civil servants, the retired, among others. We have to ask ourselves specifically, in relation to conch, what do we want the next ten years to look like? Some might suggest a complete moratorium on conch until our conch populations return to a more stable state. Others might strongly disagree with this. The fact of the matter is that our conch populations are at risk of going extinct, and this has the ability to dramatically shift our Bahamian narrative.

Conservation decisions are difficult because it often means that we have to change what we do on a daily basis, changing things that we love and are comfortable with is hard. Personally, I don't want to stop eating conch. Cat Islander's make amazing conch dishes, but is continuing to eat conch a responsible and ethical decision?

Bahamians, this is our moment, we have the chance to write our history. If we make the important but tough decisions now and save our conch populations, we will continue to have conch for us to enjoy for generations to come. If we don't we have to face the fact that we will be the generation of Bahamians that allowed the queen conch to go extinct.

Nikita Shiel-Rolle, MSc
Conservation Biologist

References:
Dr. L. Gittens, Bahamas Department of Marine Resources
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23308249.2018.1480008?journalCode=brfs21
http://forms.bahamas.gov.bs/dp_agency.asp?aid=MARINE
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/01/conch-decline-overfishing-the-bahamas/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobatus_gigas

]]><![CDATA[What is the Bahamas without the Family Islands?]]>Wed, 24 Oct 2018 04:30:05 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/what-is-the-bahamas-without-the-family-islandsWhat is the Bahamas without the Family Islands?

I want to respond to some of the things that the Acting Director of Education said about the proposed amalgamation of Cat Island schools. He stated that the Ministry would be able to post more teachers in Cat Island if the enrollment of students in Cat Island would be bigger and located at one central school.This proposal has clearly come from individuals who have not spent time on Cat Island. The proposed amalgamation which is to have all students attend Old Bight High will require students from the North to spend a minimum of four hours a day commuting by bus. Not only does this severely impact the quality of education for the current students, it will prohibit student’s participation in extracurricular activities. Expecting students to commute long hours to school will negatively impact the students performance and minimise critical family time and the learning that takes place at home. It’s not acceptable, and furthermore as we are living in 2018 it is not necessary. The use of technology, can one, reduce the number of teachers required to be physically posted to Cat Island, and two, could afford the students a greater educational experience. Closing the Arthur’s Town High School will kill Northern Cat Island. What is a community without a school? Who will be the future of this community? How can we be expected to build our community, and increase our population if we lack the most basic infrastructure such as a school.

It’s a tough time to be living in Cat Island. In addition to all of the problems that we have with our schools we also have other issues. The island does not have a morgue, we do not have proper clinic facilities, nor do we have a fire truck or properly paved roads. What does this mean for Cat Island? It means that when people die they are put in buckets of ice until the undertaker comes from Nassau. When there is a medical emergency on island people have to drive an hour and half if not more before they can get to a plane to fly them off of the island. We used to have a morgue, but it was destroyed when all the clinics on the island were bulldozed because we were promised new and better clinics. Years later the nurses operate out of an old house, which they have turned into a clinic. To this date we are awaiting our new clinics and morgue. There is also no functioning dock that allows for a mailboat to dock in the north of the island.

The first response to our problems from many is that it is simple economics. Supply and demand, if the population isn’t there how does the government justify investing in the community. As a resident of Cat Island and a voice from the Family Islands I would like to make it clear that we are all Bahamians, the Bahamas does not just encompass New Providence. Yes, managing this country is expensive and complex and it is exactly because of this that we need our leaders to be innovative, creative, and committed to identifying solutions to these complex issues. It’s time that we stimulate the economies of our family islands without selling our souls and our precious resources. The solution to the problems in each family island cannot be to close everything down. We can and we must do better.

A sign of a developed nation is their ability to invest in infrastructure. How do we attract investment in our family islands if we lack basic infrastructure like a school?

We absolutely need to invest in our Family Islands. When you think about the future of The Bahamas, is it a future where the entire population of the country lives in New Providence? With the current levels of crime and overpopulation of New Providence do we expect everyone from the Family Islands to move to the city? Where is our vision?

We need leaders who are visionaries who are planning for the future development of our country. This trend of impulsively and recklessly reacting to problems needs to stop. As a community we are like so many other family islands, members of Cat Island came together to form a committee that is trying to bring National attention to the challenges facing our country, in addition to working within our capacity to solve the problems that we are faced with. The government needs to be more responsive to the needs of family island communities. One way that this can be achieved is for the community to have direct collaboration with ministries responsible for infrastructure on our islands. What we want is our government to invest in us and to work with us to identify realistic solutions to our problems.

As Bahamians we must be committed to nation building and that means investing in our country. The Bahamas is not just New Providence. We are a Family of Islands. Every Family Island represents unique cultures, lifestyles, economies, and heritage that are critical to the essence of what it means to be Bahamian. We cannot afford to further disenfranchise our Family Islands. It is no longer good enough for us to say, well there aren’t enough people on the islands and therefore that island doesn’t deserve the investment. We have to change our way of thinking. How can we encourage young families to move to the Family Islands if there is no infrastructure? How can we build sustainable economies in our family islands that ultimately improves the entire country, if we refuse to invest in our Family Islands. We need to encourage young Bahamians like myself to move to and invest in our Family Islands?

We are one country and the success of each individual island is ultimately the success of our country as a whole. I am urging every Bahamian to stand in solidarity with the Family Islands. We deserve better, the future residents of family islands deserve better. So I ask you, what is the Bahamas without the Family Islands? Can we afford to let Family Island communities deteriorate? I believe that we absolutely cannot afford to let Family Island Communities deteriorate and that as a country we must proactively work towards addressing these critical national issues.

]]><![CDATA[The pink cape (it really is just a towel and it's not even pink) ]]>Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:53:23 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/the-pink-capeI logged on to Facebook today to share my reflections on developing YME but before I was able to write my post I saw this article "Should I stay or should I go?" That question is a reality for so many.

What I wanted to share on Facebook was that as I looked around my office (which is really my living room/dinning room) I saw 5 staff members working hard. YME is far away from having "made it" and considering ourselves a financially viable and sustainable organisation. We are working on it but the struggle is still real. The realities of doing business in The Bahamas can be suffocating, but for me to sit in my "office" and look at my staff of 5 I had to smile because this is a sign of progress.

It may be greener on the other side, and hey, maybe the grass is also longer and sweeter. Maybe life would be better if I left the Bahamas. But perhaps life is only better because when you move from your home and take up residency somewhere else initially the problems of that community are not your problems. Should there be problems in that community your detachment may make it easier to find your own bubble and live in it, in a way creating a level of blissful ignorance.

The authors question "Should I stay or should I go?" is a real question but it is not my question. My question is often why? Why have I chosen to stay when arguable the prospects of a more prosperous life lie only a plane ride away.

The question "Should I stay or should i go?" will be asked more frequently by even more Bahamians. They will see the country spiralling into an inferno of disaster and ask themselves if they really want to go down with the ship. Many will go and even more will never even attempt to come back and have the opportunity to ask the question - Should I stay or should I go?

I can honestly say It worries me when I hear people say "the worst decision that I ever made was to move back home." They are often older than I am and arguably more experienced with life in The Bahamas. Perhaps they have experienced the monster that looms in the shadows around the bend.

It is possible that I am that naive child that believes that by tying a cape around my neck I now have the powers to fly. When I jump off the roof with my pink cape flapping in the wind and I fall to the ground and break my arm my first thought isn't that I am incapable of flight, but rather crap, now I have to wait 6 weeks before I can figure out what went wrong...... Maybe i need to try the purple cape.

What I do know is that I have embarked on a journey to do my part to shape the future of The Bahamas. No, YME will not solve all the problems of The Bahamas but I am crazy enough to think it will help.

This week I have had YME alumni coming out of the wood works. They want to get back involved. They are sharing their stories about the non-profit organisations they are starting, or describing their plans to launch an eco tour company. Hearing those stories gives the little girl with the broken arm the confidence that flight is possible.

I think that what the author of "Should I go or should I stay?" has in common with me is that we both have the privilege and the luxury to make that choice. The reality is for most Bahamians The Bahamas is the only reality.

The Bahamas that I know today is depressing. The reality is that it is not going to get better unless we make it better. There is no easy fix it button. Maybe the process requires one brilliant mind after the other being burnt out. Doing what they can and then calling it a day and setting sail for greener pastures.

I don't think that developing a progressive Bahamas is insurmountable, I think it's a dream that most of us share and that is at least half the battle. What we need to figure out is how. Imagine being The Wright Brothers, Robert Watson Watt or Thomas Edison, they created the unimaginable.

Part of my "adjusting to life back home processes" was to acknowledge the state of the country for what it was, identifying my coping mechanisms, and then work towards playing my part to try and make it better. I believe that we need our brightest minds to be part of building a progressive country. I think finding a solution to The Bahamas as we know it might just take that much longer if we have 1/2 of the minds to work with.

I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is how many times are we willing to jump off the roof? Maybe if enough of us got together and decided to tie capes around our necks and try to fly, after a few of us have recieved broken bones, we might realise that we can't go on like this. Perhaps someone might come up with the idea that if we jumped off the roof and landed on a trampoline it might get us that much closer to flying.]]><![CDATA[Pigs on a Beach]]>Wed, 27 May 2015 21:07:09 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/pigs-on-a-beachI remember the childhood story of the three little pigs. There was the naive pig who built his house out of straw and when the Big Bad Wolf came he huffed and puffed and blew down the house and gobbled up the pig…. Poor pig. But that wasn’t enough for our friend the wolf so he went to the second pigs house, this pig was a cheap pig, and he built his house out of sticks. You guessed it, Mr. Wolf ate him as well. Feeling on top of the world Mr. Wolf went to the third house, that of Ms. Pig. Ms. Pig had put great thought into the construction of her house and built it out of bricks. So when the wolf failed to blow the house down he thought he could outsmart her and climb through the chimney. But to his dismay Mr. Wolf landed in her boiling pot and was later served as her diner….. What a smart pig!

We have pigs in The Bahamas, the most famous are the pigs that live at Big Majors in the Exuma Cays. It baffles me that these pigs have become an attraction that we celebrate and are featured in advertisements that promote The Bahamas. (To be honest, I often wonder about the potential environmental impact of those pigs. Studies show that pigs on islands threaten the native, near extinct or endemic (meaning only found in The Bahamas) plants, seabirds, lizards or snakes that cohabit the island.)) HOWEVER, today I am going to focus on the three little pigs.

I will agree it is rather picturesque and a bit bizarre to see pigs in our crystal clear waters. But I can’t help but think, as we develop our great country, are we following along the path of the naive pig, or the cheap pig. Are our current actions because we are naive and don’t know any better? As a result, will the Big Bad Wolf eat us? Or is it that we are just cheap and don’t want to make the long term investments required to build a solid foundation that will protect us from the huffs and the puffs?

Ms. Pig was a super smart swine. Not only did she ensure that her house was built on a solid foundation out of material that would withstand the greatest huffs and puffs, but she also had a back up plan. As I sit at my desk and I think about The Bahamas I don’t think we are in a position to withstand the huffs and the puffs.

It is important to give credit where credit is due and managing The Bahamas is a task. The Government of The Bahamas is responsible for managing 30 inhabited islands spread across a 1,200-kilometer archipelago. Our geography makes it challenging. If you want to go to some of the southern islands there are only two flights a week! Logistically, managing The Bahamas is expensive and complex.

Because of this we need a plan, a wolf proof plan. I think it is important to acknowledge the realities that exist in The Bahamas. We can’t side step the truth and be afraid of our dirty laundry. What we have to do is acknowledge that as a country we have serious challenges and we need to start doing our laundry.

We need to plan for a Bahamas that has a population of greater than half a million people. We need to be able to make tuff but proactive decisions. We need to strategically think about how sea level rise will impact us. Exploring the economics of natural disasters is a must. What we really need to do is to stop filling in wetlands, but I will leave that dialogue for another day. The reality is that we need to think about how we manage our waste and our natural resources. Those famous pigs wouldn’t be so famous if they were in dark murky water. It’s our crystal clear waters that give them their fame.

When the graduation rate in the public school systems has been roughly 50% for the past 15 years we have a problem. Reflecting on the words of the Minister of Education when he stated that "as a country we have failed to implement meaningful reforms to improve decades of dismal [education] performance that now threaten…a ‘social disaster,’” it makes me question what do we do to circumvent this disaster. What are the abled bodied Bahamian Citizen going to do?

Seven years ago I started Young Marine Explorers (YME), a non-profit organization that has a mission to educate and inspire youth to become the leaders needed to address the social, economic and environmental challenges of The Bahamas. I have a long term goal that by 2025 at least 10%, approximately 4,000 Bahamian public secondary school students will be enrolled in YME.

YME inspires academic excellence and fosters behavioural change that will translate into sustainable lifestyle choices. YME takes a non-traditionally Bahamian approach to education through student centered learning with activities, games, drama, art, and field exploration, all focused on the Bahamian environment. The YME three-year curriculum has been designed to correspond with learning objectives from the Ministry of Education. It is anticipated that successful YME graduates will demonstrate:

Improved performance on the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education exams,
Improved understanding of Bahamian laws and regulations,
Appreciation of the value of volunteerism,
Improved problem solving skills,
Improved professional skills for the workforce, and
Willingness to become environmentally aware citizens who remain actively involved in citizen science projects designed to monitor, protect and restore Bahamian biodiversity.

Taking advantage of the power of technology, YME graduates who are selected to participate in our two-year internship will be enrolled in a distance learning Associate Degree program at Miami Dade College. What this means is that when YME has programs established throughout the country students in Acklins, Crooked Island, Cat Island and Mayaguana, or any of the 30 islands can get an Associates Degree without having to leave their island.

I don’t think every Bahamian has to go to college, I don’t think that college is for every Bahamian. But I firmly believe that increasing access to post-secondary education is critical for national development. Studies show that quality education have long-term benefits on countries, and can have positive effects on individual earning, capacity and national growth.

Like Ms. Pig I have a plan. I believe that there is a solution to every problem. I may not have the perfect solution, ut if we can develop enough smaller plans that can fit into a National Plan we might be able to build a Bahamas that can withstand the huffs and the puffs.

References for this blog can be found in the Manuscript 'Young Marine Explorers: Capacity Building through a
Youth Outreach Program in The Bahamas by Nikita Shiel-Rolle, Suzanne Banas and Kathleen Sullivan Sealey 2015

]]><![CDATA[Our Paradise a Sinners Paradox]]>Wed, 20 May 2015 19:22:08 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/our-paradise-a-sinners-paradoxI live in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, a biodiversity hot spot with crystal clear waters and white and pink sandy beaches that can rival any beach on earth. From the outside looking in The Bahamas could be considered the Garden of Eden, a befitting title given that we are a Christian Nation. There really is no better place on earth. To borrow from Dante’s Inferno, if you were to explore the depths of The Bahamas, like Dante and Virgil visited the after world, you might think you were entering the seventh pouch of the Eighth circle of hell.

Imagine you are witnessing swarms of snakes jumping and attacking naked sinners where their souls instantly catch fire and burn up, only to rise from the ashes to return to the pit of serpents…… OKAY, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, what can I say I have a vivid imagination.

As Bahamians we live in a high-income country, based on our Gross National Income (GNI) per capita we are likened to the United States, Germany and Australia. I am not going to discuss how our GNI is not an adequate representation of wealth distribution in The Bahamas because that is a story for another day. But if you can humour me for a minute lets pretend that we are like Dante and Virgil and we are within the 8th ring of The Bahamas. Let’s pretend the sinners have no faces and we are focusing on the “snakes” that plague this country. As Bahamians we have to move beyond this passive life that we live and kill the “metaphorical snakes.” (Metaphorical because you should never kill real snakes. We have no venomous snakes in The Bahamas and the snakes that we do have help to control the rat population, but I digress).

I am going to take the liberty and assume that you are familiar with the “snakes” that plague the 8th ring of The Bahamas and that we can agree that as a country, we are in a state of crisis, economically, socially and environmentally. That as a nation there is no room left for vacillation. We need to take a top down bottom up approach. The government does not have the sole responsibility to solve our problems. Private entities have to work with and support the government because the government cannot build a nation by themselves.

We as citizens have to invest in our country, and in our future. What this means is that we have to put youth development at the forefront. The government must put education first. The reality is if we want a better Bahamas we need an educational system that builds better citizens. This is where we struggle as a nation because we don’t know what it truly means to be active citizens. We have not been equipped with the skills to rationally solve our problems or to build a life that doesn’t depend on hand outs.

The empirical evidence exists, nations that put education first and make education a priority prosper economically and are in a better position to deal with social issues. As a country in crisis we don’t have time for games. If you want to play the odds there are number houses on almost ever corner of this island, good luck.

What we need is to implement the universally tried and tested solution of equitable and quality education for all. We cannot continue to teach using the same methods as the years before and be surprised when the results don’t change. We cannot continue to put a Band-Aid on a tumour and wonder why we are not getting any better.

As a young Bahamian I refuse to let this country spiral into a 9th ring of hell. In Dante’s inferno the sinners that live in the 9th ring are the most evil sinners, the traitors to Benefactors, like Judas, who betrayed Christ. In my youthful eyes the greatest betrayal to Bahamians and the future of The Bahamas is that if you are in a position to influence the development of this country and you don’t demand for education and youth development to be a priority.

Building a brighter Bahamas is not the sole responsibility of the Government and as Bahamians we have to work together but I am humbly asking the decision makers in our country that if you are working on new and innovative programs that will change the face of this country then share that information with us and give us hope; present opportunities for able bodied citizens to work with you. But the reality is this country cannot continue with the status quo. Nation building isn’t about creating a personal legacy. How I see it, those of you with real power have two options, the first is to step up and be radical and work with us to change this country for the better, or to humbly step aside. ]]><![CDATA[Conservation is about the WE and not the ME]]>Tue, 26 Aug 2014 15:18:49 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/conservation-is-about-the-we-and-not-the-meInternational Marine Conservation Congress Reflection Blog 1

Competition is found everywhere in science. As students of science we learn first hand about the realities of survival of the fittest, that only the "strong" survive. Crammed into lecture halls, eager to learn, for many of us our first experience in science is with a professor who makes it explicitly clear that their goal in life is to “weed out the week”…. In full survival mode, with our adrenaline pumping, after too many caffeine induced late nights we survive undergrad! The “fit” (or in my humble opinion the crazy) venture on to explore the world of graduate school where phrases like “publish or perish” become a mantra that you repeat to yourself day in and day out.

Similar to the ecosystems that we study competition is real and alive and in many ways is a driving force behind science and conservation. Funding is limited so you have to be the best, the most innovative, the one that everyone remembers. Don't misunderstand me, I am a product of the system, I am probably one of the most competitive people out there (Don’t believe me? Challenge accepted!). Speaking honestly, I love the pressure and intensity that surrounds competitive environments. With that said, I’m starting to realize that conservation is a much bigger game, it’s a game where I don’t think we truly understand the rules. In this game called conservation the competitive “me” does not win, the “me” cannot win alone.

The conservation challenges facing the world are critical, and need immediate action, but the action required demands a unified approach. Where am I going with all this? As a conservation community we have to do a better job working together. Experts need to mentor and encourage students entering the field of conservation. I know the experts are busy literally solving the world’s problems, but we can’t underestimate the role that mentorship plays in propelling conservation forward – the world needs more environmental heroes. By protecting the environment, we are ensuring the long term stability of our economy and improving our overall health and wellbeing. These students will some day fill your shoes.

Conservation is about the “we” and this means that at a national level we have to do a better job at collaborating, learning to set aside our independent organizational ego. Conservation is a political game, no one ever tells you this, and it’s one of the harsh realities that slapped me in the face. Money and social capital have a huge influence over conservation action or the lack there of. Accepting the hurdles that surround the conservation world, organizations and governmental agencies need to improve our means of communication and collaboration. I understand that it is easy to write about the need for collaboration but sometimes collaborating can be difficult.

Reflecting on my experience with conservation and collaboration in The Bahamas, it hasn’t been the easiest journey. One of the great gifts of life is imagination, and we have the ability to generate ideas about how we think people feel about us positive or negative. True or false, these imaginary ideas influence us. For a long time I worked in isolation running YME and not really engaging with other NPO’s or Governmental agencies in The Bahamas. Maybe I feared they wouldn’t take me seriously, I was young and under qualified they were older with more experience. My insecurities as a young conservation biologist inhibited my desire to collaborate with other organizations. Just as I was limited by my fears to develop relationships with the individuals in the conservation world in The Bahamas, I did not receive an overwhelming outreach of encouragement or extension of mentorship in support of my conservation efforts.

The take home message is that if we as a conservation community really want to make the change that we talk about, we have to learn how to work together and support each other. Conservation is like an equation where each organization, individual and agency working together plays a role in achieving the end goal.

So, to the PhD’s and MSc’s, Directors and Professors start conservation conversations with the high school and college students, the community leaders or the church pastors. Whole-heartedly support their conservation energy and passion and provide constructive criticism and encourage further dialog.

To the established organizations and governmental agencies don't underestimate the contribution small start up organizations can play in supporting your long-term conservation goals.

Last but not least, to the individual, the person with passion, wherever you are in your conservation career, strap on your “big girl fins” and dive in. The swim won’t always be easy, but you will make it, and remember, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

]]><![CDATA[Are we destroying paradise?]]>Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:56:36 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/are-we-destroying-paradiseIndulge me for a minute as I rant and rave and pose a question to my fellow Bahamians and residents of The Bahamas.... Are we destroying paradise? In the past week I have had two experiences with a tourist that has left me utterly humiliated. As someone who works in environmental education it is easy to just fall on the default "oh Bahamians aren't educated, they don't know any better" reason for the challenges facing this country. But I refuse to entertain that explanation today because this rant today is not for the Bahamian that doesn't know any better. It's for the well educated and established Bahamian..... (This probably means you the reader who is taking the time to read this post).

The Bahamas is struggling, this is no shock to anyone. Despite the many issues with governance in this country, this conversation is directed towards you the individual.

The reality is, if you are not doing something to solve the problems in The Bahamas, you are part of the problem..... yes I said it... YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM

Too many of us have not accepted the responsibility that the future of The Bahamas lies within our actions. For so many of my peers the solution to the madness that is The Bahamas is to get up and go, find a job outside of The Bahamas and come home for vacations so you don't really have to deal with the realities of The Bahamas (I understand this). For those who stay (either by choice or lack of other options) and establish themselves in The Bahamas, I feel like we find a way to cope, we find our bubble of comfort and acclimatize to "our Bahamas" without really thinking too much about the environmental and socioeconomic ills that plague this country. It's so much easier that way. I get it... when I start to have conversations with people about education or development decisions that have become disastrous it usually ends up with everyone being frustrated beyond words.

I was embarrassed by my country last week and have concluded that we are actively destroying paradise.

I have an intern spending the summer with me, she came to The Bahamas to learn about marine science and to assist Young Marine Explorers. This was fantastic for YME we get extra help, and I am always eager to assist and inspire anyone interested in conservation..... and this friends is how you embarrassed me:

1. The first day my intern arrived I decided we would take the dogs for a walk to Yamacraw Beach - Words cannot describe the filth of that Beach. It is summer, so people tend to spend more time on the beach but that is in no way an excuse to leave you KFC, Wendy's, Carols JR and any other piece of garbage on the beach, whatever you bring to the beach take it home with you. This was my interns first Bahamian Beach experience and I felt like I took her to the dump. - It was horrendous

So maybe you are thinking I don't leave my garbage at the beach, I am not destroying paradise...I think you are destroying paradise and I encourage you to keep reading

2. Last week I took YME students to Clifton to go snorkeling and conduct a field exercise. We got to Clifton Heritage Park, we had spent our money to get a bus from East street to Clifton, paid our park entrance fee to get to the snorkel site only to find it was covered in oil. There were oil slicks on the water and oil on the beach. This was supposed to be my interns first experience snorkeling..... we couldn't go snorkeling, everyone would have been covered in oil.

Sure, perhaps you have no direct influence over the oil spills at Clifton, and you are asking yourself how you could possibly be destroying paradise?

Collectively we are destroying The Bahamas.
I have accepted the fact that we cannot wait for the government to create the change needed in this country. It depends on you and me and all of us Bahamians. There is no doubt that there is a need for reform in almost every aspect of this country from education to energy. What I ask is for you to acknowledge the fact that you , the well educated, law abiding, non littering citizen are part of the problem. Why are you the problem? Simply because you fail to be part of the solution. Reflect on your life and figure out what you need to do to make a change. It's going to take small actions by all 300,000 of us to change things in this country. I can't tell you what to do, but you need to do something, we all need to do something otherwise our standard of living, our health and economy is at risk.

We all need to do more, stop being lazy and complacent, constructively speak up about issues, become a mentor to someone, have a meaningful conversation with the students packing your groceries, maybe that student wants to be a lawyer or a banker, give them a book to read or share an experience with them. Sometimes the smallest interactions can have the biggest impact in a students life. Use reusable grocery bags (IF YOU DON"T USE REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS IT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE LAZY... STOP BEING LAZY). Explain to the student packing your bags why reusable grocery bags are important. Give a student a reusable grocery bag for them to use. Drink out of a reusable water bottle. Carry your lunch to work, or carry a reusable container if you are ordering out..... There are so many things that you can do but at the end of the day we need to start acting like a community. East St to Lyford Cay, Wolf Road and Old Fort Bay, we all live on this island together and we need to start taking control of our future which means, putting the environment and education first.

Poor Education = Poor Work Ethic = Poor Business Output

Destroyed Environment = Less Tourists = Unemployment = More Crime

Destroyed Environment = Reduced Ecosystem Services (fish, protection from storms, clean water, etc.) = Reduced Quality of Life = Unhappy Bahamians

My rant is over, I just want to see a better Bahamas....apparently "It's better in The Bahamas".... the paradise that we are destroying is better than what exactly? Right now I am not sure....... I hope we can all do something to make a change, because it is need.

]]><![CDATA[Happy World Oceans Day!! :)]]>Sun, 08 Jun 2014 10:57:32 GMThttp://shielrolle.com/blog/happy-world-oceans-day