Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 238

DOMINICA the Nature Island, needs our help
Hurricane Maria Relief Request from
Cocoa Cottage Dominica

Greetings from Dominica,
To all of our friends, family, past and future clients
and guests, those who know us, and those who
have yet to meet us.
It is with heavy hearts and minds that we
write to you this day. As you probably already
know, Dominica was hit hard by the Category 5
Hurricane Maria. She destroyed the island; and
anyone living on the island has been heavily
impacted by her force. Most homes are missing
roofs at the very least. We ourselves lost roofs
on both Cocoa Cottages and Extreme Dominica
buildings. All furnishings and equipment that
remain are wet and impossible to dry out due
to the continuing rains, and lack of materials
to begin rebuilding as of yet. Most roads were
covered by fallen trees or by landslides. This storm
spared NO ONE and NOTHING stood in its way.
Small streams became raging rivers, waterfalls
became landslides. You would not recognise the
landscape. The rain-forest is no longer a forest,
but instead a grim land of defoliated trees. Palm
trees that remain are spires rising up leafless to
the sun. We wonder where the Jaco and the
Sisserou went. The heat is unbearable without the
shade of the rain-forest.