The Nature of Belonging: Groundings in the Earth of Daily Life

Vonnie Roudette has created a seminal work of Caribbean Nature writings revealing creative messages for community transformation through daily observation. Compiled largely from five-minute weekly radio commentaries that were aired in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the WEFM Radio Viewpoint program between June 2004-June 2009, The Nature of Belonging is a Collection of Short Essays that are beautifully interspersed with Roudette's poetic drawings and meditations on Nature. Through The Nature of Belonging, Roudette seeks to facilitate personal healing from social and cultural programming through the practical application of resilient natural wisdom that nurtures cooperative relationships within our personal and working lives, community and natural environment. "There is a dialogue in these pages between two or more ways of thinking. That is the point of the book: to share in real stories the Roudette compassion for life, for nature, for people who can become open to others. These essays are the testimony of an urgent, loving spirit" - Oscar Allen, author, social commentator. "It requires a great combination of skills to produce a work of such range of themes and quality of perception. Be the subject Vincentian architecture, carnival, the role of the landscape in shaping consciousness, Caribbean regional cuisine and the art of healthy living: Ms. Roudette's meditations provide us with a manual of instruction for teachers and learners with an interest in the art of seeing and listening. This translation of weekly broadcasts on St. Vincent and the Grenadines radio into an anthology of essays bears the mark of editorial distinction which could only have been achieved by a creative teacher for whom "there is great satisfaction in being able to step back and see something not only continue but continue to grow" -George Lamming, scholar, author, critic.