Home location

Mon Giraud, just outside Castries

Education/ schooling

St Mary’s College, Castries (571 students)

St Lucia ’s most able students have attended this school in the past: two Nobel Laureates, Sir Arthur Lewis (Economics, 1979) and Honorable Derek Walcott (Literature, 1992) and even the former Prime Minister of St. Lucia (Sir John Compton).

The Government of St Lucia, through the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development Youth and Sports have just announced that they will make available over EC$2 million in the financial year 2005 – 2006 towards the expansion and upgrading of St. Mary’s College. I am looking forward to the construction of six classrooms and a science block!

Family Members

Father (50): Claude

Mother (45): Daverne

Sister (22): Menissa

Sister (18): Sonia

Jobs associated with family members

Father is working very hard in his refrigeration/air conditioning business, servicing many hotels. He has closed the spare parts shop which was not flourishing.

Mother is working in a picture frame shop for her world-renowned artist relative Llewellyn Xavier. His modern art includes oil abstract paintings up to 2 metres high to small objects made from beaten silver and gold. A lot of his work has an environmental theme, created from recycled materials. His work is on permanent exhibit at major museums in New York and Washington, D.C.! His workshop is in Cap Estate.

Menissa is working for the St. Lucia Tourist Board, at Point Seraphine, having completed her studies and gained a diploma. She may continue with further studies later.

Sonia is serving and modelling in a jewellery shop. Uncle Llewellyn has persuaded her that art as a career is too precarious. She will pursue it as a hobby.

Hobbies and Interests

I enjoy woodwork and technical drawing and love drawing cartoons!

I often go down to the Eudovic Art Studio at Morne Fortune to watch the woodcarvers make trays, masks and figures out of mahogany, red cedar and eucalyptus woods.

Religion

Roman Catholic

Ethnic group

Black

Language

English (official), French patois

Climate

Tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to April, rainy season from May to August

Terrain

Volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys

Additional information about the country

GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,400 (2002 est.)

GDP by sector: agriculture: 7%; industry: 20%; services: 73% (2002 est.)

Labour force: 43,800 (2001 est.)

Labour force by occupation: agriculture 21.7%, industry, commerce, and manufacturing 24.7%, services 53.6% (2002 est.)

Unemployment: 20%

Agriculture: bananas, coconuts, cocoa, root crops, vegetables, citrus

Industries: clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism, lime processing, coconut processing

Television broadcast stations: 2 (of which one is a commercial broadcast station and one is a community antenna television or CATV channel) (2004)

Internet: 13,000 users (2002)

Military: no regular military forces; Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit, Coast Guard) (2003)

Economy overview

Changes in the EU import preference regime and the increased competition from Latin American bananas have made economic diversification increasingly important in Saint Lucia. The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry. Economic fundamentals remain solid, even though unemployment needs to be cut.

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