And Still I Rise

This has been a tumultuous year.On the homefront a massive increase of violent crimes and drug related shootings threatened the serenity that people have grown to associate with this island.Regionally,natural disasters pounded us relentlessly with Grenada,Cayman Islands,Jamaica,Cuba,Haiti,The Dominican Republic all taking a beating from hurricanes or tropical storms.Dominica,also experienced an earthquake that damaged several buildings but thankfully no lives were lost.And then there was the devastating earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting massive loss of lives.These figures about deaths are only count of bodies in hospitals, but we can see bodies everywhere on roads, inside buildings, buses, trains and even in the sea D. Indika, Colombo, Sri Lanka

World peace still seems as elusive as ever with some regions becoming more and more unstable.Videos of people being beheaded were distributed on the Net and in Iraq the fighting just keep continuing.At times it just seemed that the World was losing its humanity.

Caribbean people rejoiced with The ICC Champions trophy win and the medal winners in the Athens Olympics in a year that did not offer much to be happy about.Personally,its been a mixed year but still I have a lot to be thankful for.There are a lot of things I need to fix in my life like try to repair some broken relationships,try to stay healthier and generally be a better person than I was in 2004.

For 2005,my wish is that you all be blessed with good health,great friendships,good secure jobs,financial well being and all the good stuff.Many times things do not work out the way we wish they would,but still we got to keep persevering.I often remind myself of that,not that it is easy but you have to believe that we are here for a reason.Happy New Year everyone!