Community

After the storm | Perspective

By Caribbean Beat | Issue 148 (November/December 2017)

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, here’s how you can help the islands most badly affected

Heartland album: Andrea de Silva & Alva Viarruel explore the landscape of Indo-Trinidadian culture

By Various Contributors | Issue 145 (May/June 2017)

For generations, the plains of Caroni in central Trinidad were the agricultual heart of the island. The busy town of Chaguanas and its vendor-lined streets now dominate the area, but across the surrounding countryside still sprawl small farms and villages. Photographer Andrea de Silva and writer Alva Viarruel explore this landscape of Indo-Trinidadian culture

Inner-city art in Kingston

By Tanya Batson-Savage | Issue 144 (March/April 2017)

For middle-class Jamaicans and tourists alike, downtown Kingston, with its deprived communities, can seem off-limits. So when a group of young artists began a public mural project in the Fleet Street area, it wasn’t just about beautifying the neighbourhood, writes Tanya Batson-Savage. It was really about opening opportunities for local residents

Caribbean “farmer-preneurs” — back to the land

By Erline Andrews | Issue 142 (November/December 2016)

Agriculture is an essential industry — how else do we feed ourselves? — but traditionally has been considered back-breaking, thankless, old-fashioned work. That’s starting to change, Erline Andrews reports, as a new generation of young Caribbean “farmer-preneurs” adopt the latest technological advances in one of human-kind’s oldest activities

Pastor Bobby Wilmott: Trench Town Triumph

By Chris Salewicz | Issue 40 (November/December 1999)

Pastor Bobby Wilmott is a man who’s bent on converting Jamaica’s rough Trench Town into a place of hope he calls Joytown. Chris Salewicz explains

Wilmott at the Joytown Learning Centre with a class of young children. Photograph by Wayne Tippetts

The Merikins: heroes of the forgotten war

By Judy Raymond | Issue 140 (July/August 2016)

Two hundred years ago, a group of free black veterans of the War of 1812 arrived in Trinidad. In the island’s deep south, the villages they founded still preserve the traditions of the “Merikins,” as writer Judy Raymond and photographer Marlon Rouse discover — and still have much to teach their fellow citizens

Flying season

By Caribbean Beat | Issue 138 (March/April 2016)

Breezy dry season weather across the Caribbean makes Easter the perfect time to test your kite-building and -flying skills

First things first: the Caribbean’s First Peoples

By Caribbean Beat | Issue 137 (January/February 2016)

The Caribbean’s First Peoples shaped our landscapes, language, and culture — and across the region, our indigenous heritage remains within reach, if you know where to look

Ark of hope

By Zahra Gordon | Issue 136 (November/December 2015)

The Children’s Ark charity channels the energy and know-how of T&T’s movers and shakers to help give at-risk youth the opportunities they deserve. Zahra Gordon learns more

Eid-ul-Fitr: the end of the fast

By Caribbean Beat | Issue 134 (July/August 2015)

At the end of the month of Ramadan, Muslims in Suriname celebrate the joyful festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, like their fellows in Guyana and Trinidad

Miracle Mother — Siparee Mai, La Divina Pastora

By Keith McNeal | Issue 54 (March/April 2002)

In a small town in Trinidad, both Hindus and Roman Catholics honour a dark-skinned statue which answers their prayers. Keith McNeal explains

Siparee Mai. Photograph by Mark Lyndersay

Cheryl Daley-Champagnie: heart forms

By Petrine Archer-Straw | Issue 53 (January/February 2002)

Cheryl Daley-Champagnie is both a businesswoman and an artist. A graduate of Jamaica's School of Visual Arts 21 years ago, she has been a painter, teacher and creator of the "sisterlocks" hairstyle. Her many interests have led her to set up her own centre for spiritual nourishment and work. Petrine Archer-Straw talks to her

Cheryl Daley-Champagnie. Photograph by Franz Marzouca

Once bitten: Chikungunya in the Caribbean

By Nazma Muller | Issue 131 (January/February 2015)

It was the Caribbean’s big public health crisis of 2014: a rapidly spreading outbreak of mosquito-borne chikungunya. Nazma Muller investigates how governments have responded, and suggests how visitors to the Caribbean can avoid the dreaded pains and rashes of CHIK-V

Are you listening? A decade of Global Voices

By Philip Sander | Issue 131 (January/February 2015)

For a decade, the international citizen media project Global Voices has helped break through online barriers of country, culture, censorship, and language — and the Caribbean has played a key role almost from the start. Philip Sander finds out more

It takes a crowd

By Georgia Popplewell | Issue 130 (November/December 2014)

“Crowdfunding” is an ubiquitous buzzword among young creative types. But how much do online platforms like Kickstarter really help? Georgia Popplewell talks to Caribbean filmmakers and artists about their crowdfunding experiences

Jamaican art: open house

By Kellie Magnus | Issue 130 (November/December 2014)

Founded forty years ago, the National Gallery of Jamaica has long taken a leading role in the country’s art scene. Now innovative new programmes are attracting a broader audience, Kellie Magnus discovers. Meanwhile, the new art space NLS is opening doors for younger artists

Wishes and horses: Tobago’s Healing With Horses

By Elspeth Duncan | Issue 129 (September/October 2014)

Through contact with gentle equine companions and stimulating creative activities, Tobago-based Healing With Horses offers an innovative and life-changing therapeutic programme for differently-abled children. Elspeth Duncan describes a day in the life of the annual summer camp