“When it comes to primary care, Dominica is at the
head of the line.” This is according to our psychiatrist Dr. Griffin Benjamin,
in my calls to the ministry of health. While there are serious needs to be
addressed, let us begin realistically and give our homeland kudos for the
sustained accomplishments over a series of administrations.
As we
survey the health situation from a global perspective, we can take some degree
of satisfaction that from immunizations to access to clinics, Dominica actually
is not doing to badly. Having said that I attach a proposal directly from
physicians at home as to pressing needs in our homeland
Acute
psychiatric unit
“We gwayaying (i.e. suffering),” is a frequent
response to the question of how are things at home. The cost of living is high,
opportunities for advancement are limited, nepotism is prevalent and overall
the stresses of life are more acute. Mental health has been neglected, robbing
the nation of a measurable segment of manpower resources.
The Acute
Psychiatric Unit is already in a sad state of disrepair, badly in need of a
fresh coat of paint. 37 inpatients and about that many for regular outpatients
depend on the unit for recovery. Yet there are zero trained mental health
nurses, occupational therapists or drug counselors. Concrete amenities for
harnessing the productivity of the broad spectrum of handicapped is
conspicuously lacking for a nation, which has otherwise produced an enviable
cadre of professional powerhouses.
CT Scan
Dominicans are most often
transferred overseas for diagnosis, radiation and complex orthopedic and burn
surgery. Even in the United States, it makes sense to transfer certain critically
ill patients to large University Hospitals.
Transfer
arrangements can be refined, addressing language and cash-up-front complaints
in certain destinations. However availability of a CT scan would be a major
addition to the diagnostic armamentarium of local physicians.
While American
hospitals may be eager to unload older units in the rush to upgrade their CT
Scans, we must ensure that the unit we secure is at least a 1024 matrix for
adequate definition and serviceable as this would major long term investment.
The proposed $50,000 (US) maintenance rate will require further study.
Medical
Tourism
The
Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in Manhattan,
The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, all see
a significant proportion of wealthy foreign patients. The income generated
significantly impacts the local economy. When princes and potentates come over
for extended treatment stays they may often rent a whole hotel for their
entourage. Since September 11 some of these destinations are hurting for
obvious reasons.
While it
is impossible to compete on that level, the principle is instructive. Numerous
travel destinations offer retreats and spas for certain niche customers. It is
all in the marketing. With the steady inflation in the US healthcare industry
and continued improvements in travel, it may be conceivable that certain
elective (non-urgent) surgeries such as hysterectomies, gallbladder and gastric
bypass could be done more cost efficiently in Dominica.
Herbal
medicines and organic foods
We are
told that fresh water will be an even more valuable resource in this new
century. The western world has growing appetite for organic foods and herbal
medicines. The Internet offers new marketing opportunities. Thanks to Ma Pampo,
longevity is a crown that Dominica can rightfully claim at this time.
With the
demise of bananas, we must certainly strategize to market our resources and
products to increasingly savvy consumers. Indigenous producers like Blow’s Tea
Factory, Sister Nats Banana Universe and John Robin’s Benjo’s Seamoss are some
examples of Dominican enterprise, which can lead us out of the bind of
underdevelopment. The Diaspora can help
the local producers make it.
Specialists rotation
Dominican
overseas Doctors (D.O.D.) shall commit to return home every 3 to 5 years to
relieve and augment the pressing medical manpower situation in Dominica. This
lends itself to our sense of tithing in the universe. It would not be construed
as an imposition. While people hate to be made to feel obligated, commitment is
therapeutic. All the great thinkers talk about that sense of belonging.
Call it
is angst, separation or existential anxiety. Naturalized Americans tend to live
in a gray zone between two worlds, uncertain whether to cheer or mourn events
like September 11th. It is only as we identify ourselves fully with
our adopted home that we free ourselves to act effectually to assist our native
land.
In 1979 I
brought down a Cadillac hearse to replace the World War II vintage vehicle that
would often stall during funeral processions. At that time I brought down a
chill-box which preserved bodies, giving overseas relatives time enough to make
travel arrangements.
I credit
missionary assistance in that project. In 1994, on a family vacation, I brought
down equipment and worked with Dr. Paul to perform the first laparoscopic
cholecystectomy on the island. If as D.O.D’s. we commit ourselves to a flexible
schedule, published on our web site, we can coordinate our vacations with local
practicing doctors to avoid burnout.
Securing
a solid second generation
Every
family has certain travel goals when the kids are growing up. That might be
Disney, or Statue of Liberty, a cruise, visiting another major travel
destination such as Canada, Europe or Hawaii. All of that is very good. What we
are saying is put Dominica in there somewhere.
You want
to be able to go back and honestly say I involved the kids in helping the cause
in this way or that. Jews around the world go to Israeli Kibbutz at least once
growing up. Muslims are required to go to Mecca once in their lifetime. We are
quite aware of what this level of commitment can do.
If
Dominicans can commit themselves to take their children to Dominica while still
at an impressionable age, we can avoid loss of the second generation to
prevalent self-consumed, lackadaisical attitude prevalent among youth today.
They need that opportunity to see how fortunate they are. This is fundamental
to our family and professional health and sense of belonging.
Pertinent questions:
How do I go about securing new and used equipment
from hospitals and manufacturers?
To which organization should donors make
tax-deductible contributions?
Is there a central point for donations to Dominica?
Are there schools or churches in my community with
bands or groups in search of a project or trip destination?
In the spirit of Rosie Douglas, is there an
educational institution in my community that I can approach for one scholarship
for Dominica?
How can I interest trade associations make Dominica
a unique conference location?
How can I coordinate with groups on the island to
ensure that people I direct home will be properly taken care of?
Can we define what the government’s responsibility
is to experts willing to go down and perform free services?
I do believe a Dominica
Health Science Foundation would be a robust non-profit platform to attain our
goal of a healthy and health literate population. It would bridge the gap
between our homeland and the Diaspora and create the different income
generating and technical assistance means to ensure our success in the 21st
Century. Creation of such a foundation
should be a definite objective of the December 8, 2001, Dominican Diaspora
Conference. So organized, and together,
we do better.
Passion Steers Destiny of
Dominican Businessman – The Story of
Morrison Thomas
by Rose Peltier
Working in his parents’
shop in Roseau, Dominica, young Maurison Thomas always knew he would become a
successful business owner – it was just a matter of when.
The 40-something Dominican, co-owner of MOKA Productions in New
York City, says he has always had the desire to succeed – something he picked
up from his parents, he says. The company, which Mr. Thomas and his wife own,
is a three-part entity with two offices in Manhattan.
He and his wife, nee Kathy Toulon, have been inseparable since
high school, and he credits her with his success. One office, on W. 57th
Street, houses the tourism advertising end of the business; the other, at 1385 Broadway, features couture and video
production. “We push the national dress” of Dominica, he says, but the business
sells clothing for men, women and children.
Mr. Thomas’ success
today is the result of an arduous, steady climb from those days stocking
shelves at his parents’ shop in Dominica.
He graduated St. Mary’s Academy in 1977, and in the winter of
1983, he moved to New York with hopes of accomplishing his goals. His first job
was doing installations for a local cable company. He recalls coming home one
day after spending all day outdoors on a cold day, not knowing first-hand the
effect of wintry weather. When he couldn’t feel any sensation in his numbed
feet, he quickly soaked them in hot water. “To this day, I can’t feel anything
in my toes. Whatever happened, did damage to the nerves in my feet,” he says.
That was a cold, hard lesson to learn. But Mr. Thomas wasn’t
one to accept any setbacks. He went on to work “menial-type” jobs to “pay
bills” but he says he knew he was destined for much more. He briefly attended
C.W. Post college in Greeville, N.Y. in 1984. The entrepreneurial yen ever
present, he didn’t graduate but instead starting selling a vacuum cleaner
system for a company called Kirby.
In July 1987, he was hired by Fortunoff’s, a major retailer in
New York. Mr. Thomas stayed with the company for 12 years, and held positions
from salesperson to housewares buyer. He began doing trade shows for the
company, but after five years of that,
he “got bored.” But, he says, what he learned at those trade shows only fueled
his desire to make it on his own. With his knowledge and sales experience in
hand, Mr. Thomas and his wife, a gifted seamstress, started MOKA out of their
home in 1992.
At some point, Mr. Thomas says it was time to expand his
family’s business. So in 1996 he took some courses at York College. While
there, a business instructor took him on a tour of the Queens Public Television
studio next door. During the tour, Mr. Thomas says, a light bulb went on in his
head. He registered to become a studio TV field producer, and in six months he
was certified.
His first show, which showcased his wife’s sewing skills,
prompted many more opportunities for the success in the video production end of
the business. After the show, which aired to 125,000 viewers, calls poured in
to the station from all over New York.
That show, he says, both livened the TV station and generated an
income-producing part of the new business: sewing classes that his wife
conducted every Saturday out of their home.
Mr. Thomas did three more shows, including one on Dominican
artist David Gerald Wilson. Another was his interview of former Dominican Prime
Minister Edison James, who was at the
United Nations in September 1996. Mr. Thomas recalls asking the QPTV for
a crew but, apparently he says, “no one believed” that he was able to secure
such an interview.
When no one showed up to help, he and his wife took a camera
down to the United Nations and taped the interview
with the prime minister.
Once the show aired, again, calls came through. That show, he says, became a
catalyst for other similar shows of prime ministers and other Caribbean
politicos by other producers. Mr. Thomas didn’t continue his shows at QPTV but
instead went on to do individual projects.
In 1998, he entered those four shows into the Certified
Access Producers Awards of New York, in which he was a finalist in three
categories. This year, he was honored in the national award for his production
of “A Protest March for Amadou Diallo.” The show gives a fresh perspective of
the controversial shooting of the immigrant other than what was broadcast in
the mainstream media.
What drives such an ambitious Dominican? “First ambition and a great desire to
succeed as in to put Dominica on the
map.’ We are considered no entities (small islander); but when you look around
we are responsible or have contributed to a lot of development in North America
– from civil right activist to computer scientist,” he says.
The state of affairs in his homeland isn’t good – “there
seems to be a breakdown of law and order, “ he says – and the nation suffers
from an exodus of its best and brightest, many of whom could be role models for
the young people in Dominica. He says the Number One Dominican he admires today
is Gabriel J. Christian, an attorney in Maryland.
Mr. Christian “displays the same drive that he had when we
were young boys. He’s been consistent, has never strayed from his dreams,
always offers his assistance to anyone at anytime … his total commitment to the
Dominican dreams is to lift us to a higher level – I wish we all had his
desires, “ he says of his childhood friend.
Mr. Thomas, who lives in
New York with his wife and their baby daughter, is one more Diaspora Dominican
making his mark and making our country proud – someone whose skills could help
uplift our country and our people. His parents live in New York.
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