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In January 2005 I traveled to the tiny Caribbean Island of Montserrat with three Dickinson professors and fifteen other Dickinson students in order to conduct sociological and geological research concerning the impact of natural disaster. In 1996 the Soufriere Hills, the youngest of three volcanoes on Montserrat, began to show activity. Years of ash clouds, pryoclastic flows, surges, and mudslides destroyed the southern half of the island and killed nineteen people. Plymouth, the island’s capital city and its political, educational, economic, cultural, and social center was also destroyed. The tourist industry collapsed as vacationers from around the world abandoned their villas. Mass emigration caused the population of Montserrat to fall by seventy-five percent and the remaining population attempted to rebuild in the north.
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During our research we met with the scientists stationed on Montserrat to observe the volcano and traveled into the evacuated areas to examine the physical impact of the volcano. We also examined and recorded our findings of several outcrops around the northern island in order to document the geological formations which resulted from previous eruptions of an older volcano on the island.
During our two week study we looked at the sociological implications of living with natural disaster and adjusting to life after the traumatic loss of community. As part of my research I spoke with Montserratians about their experiences on the island and interviewed ex-Chief Minister Austin Bramble. All the Dickinson students conducted interviews with members of Montserrat society from storeowners to cab drivers. Tara Russell ’06 and I used these interviews, our footage taken from the island, photographs, and music from the island about the eruption to create a documentary. The half hour documentary explores the meaning of Montserrat to its people, how the volcano has impacted their lives, and their hopes for the future. |
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