Beautiful, Broken, Blessed Dominica

Blessed. That's the best word I can think of to describe the life we both live. We grew up with roofs over our heads, food in our bellies, and wonderful friends and family. We both had amazing opportunities to play college sports and get scholarships to help us complete our undergraduate studies. We have the means to travel the world on our own vessel and make our own plans every single day. We are very blessed.

But if you ask any person who lives in Dominica, they would say the same thing about themselves. They believe they are blessed because they live in a beautiful country that people travel all over the world to see. They are blessed because they reside in a trustworthy and genuinely kind community, where everyone looks out for the best interest of others. They are blessed because not only have they survived Hurricane Maria, but they've overcome it. That, and many others. 

To our privileged eyes, we have different definitions of the word "blessed". When we first arrived on the island, we were very guilty of judging. Since we've now spent a decent amount of time on other islands, we immediately compare countries to one another. Our first impression of Dominica was seeing lots of garbage, abandoned boats, houses, stores, and beaten up streets. We were not sure if this was due to the hurricane damage, or if this was just a poorer country overall. But on our second day there, we rented a car and were able to dive deeper into this truly amazing place.

This island was hands down the most beautiful we've seen. Between waterfalls, gorges, streams, and lush mountainsides, it was breathtaking. But driving through made us see a side to the island that we overlooked with our spoiledness. A year after the hurricane and many roads were still washed away. Some were under construction, and some had no finances to be rebuilt. We drove to the east side of the island which was hit the hardest, and my heart ached. Houses were completely destroyed and abandoned, since the homeowners had no money to rebuild. Others had tarps as ceilings with people still living in them. But to my surprise- these people were as happy as could be. We drove around and laughter filled the streets. Every person we drove past waved at us, kids were playing soccer, and families were gathering for dinner. Despite not having sturdy roofs over their head, food in their bellies, and money to rebuild their lives, they were happy. They felt blessed.

We were able to talk to some locals about what it was like to be on the island during the hurricane. We listened to an experience one man had of sitting in a stairwell, holding his newborn, while the roof was ripped off the building. Another shrugged and explained how hurricanes are just part of life around there. 

Because our hearts felt so warm in this loving and desperately needing community, we decided to stop by a local place for dinner. Many people (mostly women) will cook meals in their front yard in hopes of some people to stop by so they can make a couple bucks. We were hungry and felt better about giving back to the community rather than eating at a chain restaurant. We decided to stop by a woman who was making ribs with potato salad. I asked her if she does this every night of the week or just on weekends and her face lit up as she responded, "this is actually my first night ever trying this and you guys are my first customers. I saw a lot of people cooking chicken so I thought I would try ribs and see if I had any luck at it." And at that moment, my heart was so full. Not only did I feel like we made this woman's day by starting her night off right, but I so admired the determination of these people. Their whole lives were turned upside down, they literally have nothing and not much money to their name, and they decide to put themselves out there and use the skills they do have to try and make something for themselves. 

This made a huge impact in my life. Many less fortunate people that I've interacted with in the States seem to have a bad attitude. They are angry about their situation or they are content letting the government take care of them. But these people really have nothing, and no one to take care of them but themselves, and they do what they can to get by... and are so happy and kind about it.

It really made me reevaluate what it means to be "blessed". Blessed is not what you have, what you have made for yourself, or where you live. Blessed is a mindset. It's being who you are, where you are, and being the very best you can be- to yourself, but also, to other people.