Reflections from the Retreat June 2025

Occasionally people ask me if there are any deadly animals in Grenada such as venomous snakes or spiders. So, the good news is that there are no deadly animals on the island although there are a few creatures that can give you a nasty sting or bite, but that is the same in most countries. What I’ve found here, is that the main warning signs for tourists are about dangerous plants rather than animals.

One of the main dangers is from the manchineel trees which are one of the most toxic trees in the world. The fruit of the tree look like small apples which are poisonous and the sap is toxic. There are warning signs not to stand under these trees when it is raining because just a little sap, in a small drop of rain, can blister the skin. Unfortunately, I sat under one without realising recently and the next day I had two small burns on my arm. They blistered and healed quickly and were more itchy than painful. It was a good lesson to learn so that I am more aware of what tree I am sitting near and I will definitely be mindful of this with future guests.

These trees are quite common here and they usually have warning signs like the one in the photo, which is at Levera beach. The Carib Indians used the trees' leaves to poison the water supply of their enemies and tipped their spears and arrows with the poisonous sap.  

Another warning sign that I have seen here is about falling coconuts. Again, I have learnt to be more aware of where I sit and to not park the car under a palm tree. Coconuts fall fast and hard without warning and although death by falling coconut is very rare worldwide, they would certainly give you a bad headache for a while!

Recently we have had a few other natural challenges. Over the last few months, we have had a plume of Sahara Desert dust over the Caribbean which is sometimes also referred to as a Saharan Air Layer (SAL). This has given my usual clear sea view a hazy, misty tinge and it also means that there is more dust to clean in the house and on the car.

Another challenge is huge amounts of Sargassum that is drifting across the sea to the Caribbean and Central and North America, as you can see in the photo above. This is a free-floating seaweed which is a valuable source of food and habitat for a lot of marine life. However, due to changes in wind currents and sea temperatures there has been excessive amounts landing on the coast. Sargassum originally came just from the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic, from which it gets its name. However, it now begins its life in a wider area known as the ‘Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.’ We have been watching large mats of this seaweed coming towards us and covering some of the beaches here but I have been impressed with the government’s proactive response.

Last year Grenada hosted a Caribbean conference on managing sargassum and focused not only on management but also on how to creatively use it to improve the economy. As well as representatives from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) there were representatives from the European Union who offered to help with providing technical support and funding. There have been co-ordinated clean ups, collection and storage programmes to collect the sargassum and there are all sorts of innovative ideas of how to convert sargassum into a useful product. One of the most common uses is as a fertilizer and I often see people collecting bags of it for their gardens and farms. It can also be converted into a biofuel and be made into a form of leather. It has been discovered that sargassam has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and moisturizing properties and so in Trinidad a company have started skincare products called ‘Spargassum.’ In Mexico a builder has developed a way of creating bricks from it, which he calls ‘Sargablocks.’ So although it was a challenge to go swimming for a short while and it looks unsightly on the beaches, it is interesting to see what Grenada will develop with this new resource which is one of the few tax free, delivery free imports coming onto this island!

Recently we have also had another type of natural challenges with a few small earthquakes. They usually happen out to sea and have magnitudes of about 3 to 4 (on a scale where the maximum is 10). Both times I didn’t notice them although they caused a little activity on the local WhatsApp groups, but what I did notice was a couple of cracks appearing in the courtyard and outside steps. This was quite annoying timing because these had just been painted but thankfully the decorators are still around to fill the holes and repaint them.

Of course, the biggest natural challenge is hurricanes and we are just moving into hurricane season again. As we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Beryl on 1st July there is a growing sense of shared memory and a silent awareness of any changes in the weather. The government scheme ‘Build Back Better’ is still busy building new houses for those who lost their home in last year's storm but the progress is quite slow and some are still living in makeshift homes or staying with relatives. These people didn’t just lose their homes but they lost most, if not all, their possessions that got destroyed in the hurricane. We have been able to help in a small way by donating the old mattresses that were left by the previous owners of this house. They have been so gratefully received even though they are not in ideal condition but as this father said, it is better than sleeping on the floor for him and his children.  

This blog might seem a bit sombre this month thinking about deadly trees and natural disasters and yet in all this there is a resilience that I admire so much in the people of Grenada. They can teach us so much about resilience and I am often challenged by those around me in their willingness to ‘work with what we have’ as my decorators and builders sometimes say to me, when we can’t find the stock we need or we hit another challenge in the renovation work. As a people who has a shared history of trauma there is also a shared resilience and strength.

Having worked with people who have experienced various forms of horrific trauma I am very aware of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how debilitating this can be. However, I was continually humbled by how many of these therapy clients didn’t let their past traumas define them and instead they found deep inner resources to overcome their pasts. It was these clients that showed me what Post Traumatic Growth looks like. This positive psychological change as a result of trauma often comes after a person has been helped to manage PTSD symptoms and they begin to rebuild their lives. It can show itself in different ways, according to the individual person, but often has some of the following factors –

·         A fresh appreciation for life

·         Giving more time to deepen and value important relationships

·         Changing priorities such as beginning new interests or making a career change

·         Feeling personally stronger and more self-reliant

·         Having a greater flexibility and adaptability

·         More in touch with emotions and being able to voice these

·         Having more compassion for others and a greater willingness to help others

·         Growing spiritually, deepening an existing faith or exploring new forms of spirituality.

Some psychologists in America have suggested that there is a particular ‘Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome’ that is due to the intergenerational trauma and ongoing racism that is seen in the USA.  What I see in a country like Grenada is that, alongside the possibility of intergenerational trauma from a history of enslavement and colonialism, there is Post Traumatic Growth expressed in Grenadians’ strength and resilience. If you want to see what I mean then please watch this video that was produced weeks after Hurricane Beryl hit the small Grenada islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique– it’s worth a watch.

As I think about opening a retreat house here, that will hopefully be visited by people coming from different countries, I can see how the people of Grenada and so many aspects of this culture could be an encouragement to future guests. For those who may need some hope and who are wondering how they will get over a difficult life event or loss then this island is a beacon of hope. In the aftermath of trauma and disaster, it is lives, and not just homes, that can be 'built back better' with more resilience and strength than before.