Some stories, don't need a part 2 or a sequel, some stories are like horror films you wish not to see again               

        But yesterday's headlines are  a stark reminder, that the battle against domestic violence, gender based violence and any type of violence perpetuated against  individuals has been an ageless discussion that needs to continue, a war that needs to be fought and topic that seems to be ever evolving.

 Yesterday in my land of calypso , steelpan and and the world's greatest carnival, another person was added to the DV statistics, while the carnival industry enjoyed its frist  safe zone, virtual production of the event in two years, a woman was chopped, a wife, a mother , her screams ignored, because she's accustomed screaming and a man took his own life after committing the gruesome act, thankfully she didn't die, but sustained critical injuries,that will leave her scared for life, but this scenario is all to famaliar here on the island, that was once ranked no. 1 in the happiest people on earth survey.

             Why? Is always the big question and with each incident there are  similaities and  differing reasons, in this case its said this was the frist incident of any kind of physical  violence  between the   couple after a recent arguement, so it came as a complete shock to the community, and  so the newspaper, s post on social media  gathered an abundance of empathy and  theories as to why?

Sad to say, it brought back to memory ,  several incidents in recent times, when the community and the  nation as a whole were left shocked by the action of a relatively quiet and loving spouse, just suddenly losing complete control and commuting the most horrific act of violence against their wives  with whom they would have enjoyed years of marital bliss. 

      Such was the case of Cassidy Smith, a bright , enterprising  young lady, doing her utmost to over come her initial disappointment of becoming a single mom as a teenager, she welcomed a relationship with troy as they seemed to share some common traits and awesome friendship  and his affection made her feel loved and appreciated. But it quickly went down hill when she moved in with him and he became abusive, threatening, distrusting and disrespectful. One night in December after discreetly planning her escape , she attempted to visit her new location, she never made it, she was found murdered in a forested area, and as we wined and jammed to the latest soca hit, \"take bamboo ghul \"her death remains unsolved and the country of 9 Day wonder has forgotten. 

 I agreed with a lot of the comments to the media post last evening , that there can be many reasons for the sudden change in behaviour, many triggers, the persons unsolved emotional trauma as children, the pandemic, it's economic backlash, the whole atmosphere of hopelessness adding to the inability to cope with domestic fall outs, our need to examine our choices of a mate  carefully as women, paying more attention to red flags and much more. Yet the country went up in an uproar when our Prime Minister, advised women some two years ago, to be mindful of their choices of partners. 

The fact that the gentleman in question (frist scenario) never displayed violent tendencies,unlike Troy in scenario two  suggest that he must have been very good at masking his mental health issues. 

So many are internalising hidden depression and anxieties to their own eventual destruction, case in point of the news of the beauty queen that jumped some 60 floors to her death, shocking the world as her personality never hinted  to her having any issues whatsoever, her life was picture perfect.

As a  nation our figures continue to climb, and with all the measures put in place, there seems to be no end in sight, and these are the questions on all our minds,

Is it that we as women or individuals  are not taking enough personal responsibility for our own safety? 

Is it that the powers that be are not doing enough, consistently, rather than being responsive to an uproar for action, our family courts are accessible to all and programmes are in place to assist families with councilling and guidance. We have several 24 hour hotline s including  the police, for access to immediate intervention. We have halfway houses, and safe shelters that offer secure accommodation where there's need for seperation mostly at no cost to the individual.

Is it that NGOs are not marching with placards ,or  being loud enough or is it purely a question of the condition of one's spiritual life as there seems no moral answer.?

These question pervade my mind as I dare to dream of making a difference, field of dreams will offer an alternative space of serenity,eay to access, non judgemental safe zone, for our women and girl s in the frist instance, a self sufficient eco system, that's run on 50% solar energy, a five acre spread, that will produce organic agricultural crops for sale to maintain our training programmes, a banana cultivation and research programme that will develop, sustainable fashion fabrics and products from banana fibers,a horticultural garden with herbs and ornamental plants, some from which dyes will be derived, providing jobs for the community and the women and girls that seek to be removed from vulnerable situations, whether permanently or temporarily as councel and intervention  is provided for reunion of families.

Our training centre will provide technical and vocational skills to suit to the current lack and new needs  in our job market and to provide entrepreneurship opportunities. 

I have the vision, I have the plan, the passion, the drive, and the belief with God all things are possible and jerimiah 29:11was written for me  .I don't have the finances,my own business is struggling through this pandemic, but I am welcoming   collabs or investors and others with like passion to be a part of this reality, as I continue to work towards its accomplishment by starting with what I have,  2 lots of land has been made available to us by my sister NGO @GreenArmytt on which crops will be planted to create a community garden and a portion to be planted with banana trees to be able to continue my research of deriving fibers for production. By month end we wil seek donations for the fencing off of  the area and the acquisition of 2 large water tanks and equipment. Some  Seedlings wil be provided by GreenArmytt which is a social Entrepreneurship group that uses agriculture to provide assistance to communities throughout the nation. Here fundraising for our field of dreams will take place through several initiatives. 

How can all this assist in changing the narrative of DV in my country, you may ask? . I was once a victim of domestic violence, I knew how it felt when society wanted to impose their solutions on me, leaving wasnt top of the list for options. 

Many victims here don't leave abusive situations, because

1. They don't think their partner will have the guts to carry out the threats,

2.Patners hide their real mental state quite cleverly until they snap. 

3.Not enough privacy in handling the situation if they decide to go to a safe house, too restrictive , too peopley. 

4.Not enough opportunity for  individual regrowth, finding oneself and time to heal. 

5.A secret location for a time out, a retreat to clear your head to meditate, take a long walk undisturbed is not available 

6.The drastic change in financial and societal status is a deterent especially when children are involved 

If field of Dreams, can change the ending or create a new begining for even one individual like myself who had the courage to leave like I did, We would have accomplished something worth more than gold.