Computer Mission Dominica - Aiming to provide computer access for all schools in Dominica. Computers from the UK for Schools and NGOs. An official handing over ceremony took place on Friday 11th April 2008 at St Martins Secondary School at 11.00am. Mr Steve Hyacinth Chief Education Officer was in attendance. Rosalie Forest Eco Lodge, The Sustainable Living Initiative Centre, and Lifeline Ministries, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of The Commonwealth of Dominica, are pleased to welcome a donation of 250 computers for schools and NGOs from and six schools in the UK. These computers are being installed by NS Optimum technicians this week and next in the following schools in Dominica: Grand Fond Primary School. St Marys Primary. Grand Bay Primary School. Wesley Primary School. Sineku Primary School. St Martins Secondary School. Isaiah Thomas Secondary School. Dominica Grammar School. Pierre Charles Secondary. Several community organisations and NGOs will also benefit including Escalier Motivators Committee of Concerned Women Rhema Centre Adult Education The Special Olympics Committee Life Goes On PACIS The Grotto. Dominica EcoTourism Association. This is the second donation of reconditioned computers sourced by Rosalie Forest eco Lodge and The Sustainable Living Initiative Centre to resource schools and other community based organisations in Dominica. These computers have been donated by: Sharples School in Bolton, St Josephs school in Horwich, Idsall School in Shropshire and. Richmond County High School in Lincolnshire. Geest Shipping who gave a generous discount transported them. The AID bank has also donated 70 used monitors. Various other companies who wish to remain anonymous. In the past, donated computers have presented a problem as the Ministry of Education lacks the technicians, spare parts and infrastructure to accommodate and maintain the hardware. Hence, SLICs Partnering Agency in the UK, NS Optimum, provided the technical assistance needed to train indigenous technicians at the sites together with the technicians from the Ministry of Education. NS Optimum have also donated the spare parts needed and paid for the freight to Dominica and have recently established NS Optimum Caribbean Ltd. to enable them to offer an enhanced support service. The Ministry of Education have identified sites to receive computers and have provided transportation and two of their staff to oversee operations. Rosalie Forest Eco Lodge and Home from Home are providing accommodation and SLIC is providing meals and administrative support. This project will result in a total over 400 computers installed in schools and NGOs. This is a second set of computers, the first set which were installed with help in 2007 from the British High Commission are still in good working order in secondary schools maintained by the Ministry of Education and school technicians. It is hoped that this can become an annual project helping British Schools to comply with recycling regulations and giving Dominican children greater access to computers. The Sustainable Living Initiative is a Dominican NGO dedicated to keeping Dominica Green and Beautiful by educating people about Alternative Energy, Organic Farming and Recycling. Information about joining SLIC, taking part in Alternative Energy workshops, accessing the revolving loan funds for alternative energy installations or recycling your old computer can all be had from Lifeline Ministries who take care of SLICs administration. Contact: Mrs Tina Alexander. +1 767 4498593 / 2358367 OR Jem Winston jem@rosalieforest.com. +1 767 4461886 / 2751886 Or Gavin Rose gavin@nsoptimum.co.uk. To read a blog by one of the uk technicians, Mark Allan, This was also the time for the announcement of the launch of. SLICs Recycling Programme. We can take away your old computers and squashed aluminium cansJust call us on 4498593 or e mail. The Smith Foundation has agreed to make a donation to charity from the proceeds it makes from exporting the constituent parts. PHASE 1 - MARCH 2007. The mission : To transport, re-cycle and re-install Computer Systems from. Bromsgrove School in the United Kingdom to the secondary schools in Dominica. The computers in question have been used on Bromsgrove Schools network. Due to the requirement to upgrade operating systems these units were replaced during the summer of 2006. The Bromsgrove School has generously agreed to donate these compurters through SLIC to the schools of Dominica. based in the U.K. has the contract maintaining the schools computer systems. The manager Director, Gavin Rose, is also close friend of 3 Rivers and The Forest Retreat. His company has refurbished around 200 of these computers, to a specification suitable for the secondary schoools here in Dominica, free of harge. Under the umbrella of The Sustainable Living Initiative Centre (S.L.I.C.), in collaboration with the ministry of Education of The Government of Dominica, The programme was a resounding success, and a team from NS Optimum flew to Dominica in January to measure up the schools and make preparations for the arrival of the computers. All paid for by NS Optimum. In March, at the same time as the computers arrived, a team of technicians and cablers arrived to help run workshops training local Dominicans how to set up, cable, network and keep running the new computer systems, including servers and switches and fibre optic cables, at most secondary schools on the island, at no cost. Over the next year or two, a technician from NS Optimum will return to assist where required, if needed. The aim is that the newly trained technicians, including students from the Dominica state College, will be able to handle it themselkes. Hopefuilly highly Sustainable! The Computers were shipped at a greatly reduced cost thanks to the generosity of. Geest shipping in the U.K. and the balance was being covered again by NS Optimum. The British High Commission in Barbados help towards the cost of hosting the technicians. On behalf of the schools of Dominica, we would like to thank once again the and all other stakeholders, and we look forward to an extremely successful project. To read a letter from the prinicipal of The Dominica Grammar School explaining what the project means to him and his school, Or to read a Bromsgrove School areticle about the project

Environmental Education Centre. Sustainable Living Workshops. Computer Mission Dominica. Grand Fond School Scholarship Fund. Community tourism projects. Indigenous Tree Planting Project. Our Ecotourism Awards. Rainforest Preservation. 3 Rivers is situated in an environment of outstanding natural beauty, and one of our most fundamental aims is to live in harmony with, and have as little harmful impact on, those surroundings as possible. OUR ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY POLICY. At 3 Rivers Eco Lodge we recognize that our ecotourism business has an important role to play in protecting and enhancing the environment for guests and the residents of the local community. In keeping with this goal, every aspect of the project has the environment in mind. We espouse a sustainable lifestyle, minimizing our use of all resources, and monitoring all systems. We currently use the sun for much of our green electricity, for pumping our water from the river, and for heating our hot water. We also have a microhydro electricity system to supplement our green solar power on our main property we use a wind turbine to power our forest accommodations. We compost all kitchen and garden waste, and use that compost to help us grow as much organic food as we can at the eco lodge. We try to minimise our water consumption, grey water goes through grease traps to be used in the garden, and our campers use dry toilets. Whenever possible, we try to avoid purchasing packaged goods, shop locally, recycle and use biodegradable products, and we try to keep our waste products to a minimum. An important aspect of this environment policy is to involve the local community in our ecotourism project. Our employees all come from local villages, and we train them in sustainable living. We offer a number of community based ectourism activities and are trying to showcase environmentally sound practices, hosting free school eco education visits and giving guided tours and workshops, to all interested parties, explaining renewable energy, organic farming, and the sustainable lifestyle in general, as well as being involved in various local community projects. We are a fully certified member of. (a sort of star rating for environmentally friendly hotels). We are also a full member of the. International Eco Tourism Society. Accordingly, we aim to comply fully with, and go beyond, all environmental laws and regulations, and to communicate our policies and practices to all interested parties, from guests up to government officials. We hope we can help Dominica retain its still relatively unspoilt environment, and move into a green future. SUMMARY OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL WORK : The eco work began from the start, reclaiming spoilt land which had been destroyed by chemicals used by the banana farmer whom I bought the land from. Composting began on day 1 and continues today, with the use of a rotating four bin composting system. All soaps, washing liquids and cleaning products are eco friendly and biodegradable. We use no chemicals whatsoever on land or anywhere else. Much of our electricity is solar power. We use hydro power for our main property as well and have a wind turbine powering our forest accommodations. We use solar hot water heating systems. We pump our water supply from one of the pristine rivers bordering our land, using a solar powered pump, which works in silence to avoid disturbing the surrounding natural habitats. We separate all garbage and compost everything, helping our young gardens flourish. We have recycled a damaged water tank for use as an eco shower unit. We employ 100% local people. We offer community based activities where guests get a true taste of village life... and villagers earn a few dollars! We contribute to the village carnival. We sponsored the village cricket, basketball and rounders teams. We sponsor one of the local village bands and showcase them here, at 3 Rivers, occasionally. We bought a washing machine for a local lady and set her up in her own laundry business. We helped create a new village library using books donated by our guests, installed the electricity for them and donated all necessary supplies for that job. We sponsored the community internet cafe. We run environment education workshops for local people and tourists on solar hot water heating systems, organic farming, and general renewable energy usage, through our reegistered NGO The Sustainable Living Initiative, and offer loans graduates toi buy their own green renewable energy systems for their homes, and they run a workshop when they instal the system. We offer free eco educational tours of the lodge for all schools in Dominica and have already hosted a large number of schools. We have produced a basic ecotourism educational book on all of our eco systems for our guest in order to increase their environmental awareness. We have a package deal where all of the activities involve learning about local village life, and each activity is held in the village and is run by the villagers who receive a fair income for their efforts, and our guests get a true taste for village life. True ecotourism. As well as an eco learning package offering workshops in all forms of renewable energy. Our grey water passes through grease traps, which are changed daily to help our compost system and protect our waste water leachfield soakaways. We monitor daily our water, electricity, gas, solid waste and paper consumption, and aim to continuously reduce our usage to protect the environment. Our camping facilities include a composting toilet. One non-eco exception - do you have the answer for us? One major problem we face is termites. Living in the tropics it is impossible to avoid them at all times. Bearing this in mind, a member of staff monitors every building daily, to check for wood ants and termites. Normally, we see them when they are on the concrete foundations, before they are inside the wood. By catching them before they eat the wood, we can pour vinegar on the foundations, and it scares them away and they run back to the soil. However, occasionally, we miss them or they run too fast, and by the time we notice they are already in the wood. On these rare occasions, we have taken the decision to slightly bend our eco principles, and we have used chemical products to stop them. The choice is simple, lose a house, or use the chemical product; losing the house means using a lot more wood to build another one, and so the chemical seems the wiser choice. We are constantly researching to find an alternative method; if you know of one, please tell us!

 Baby chairs and cots are provided
 Luggage storage
 Breakfast may be served in the room
 Camping and RSV park on grounds
 Rent-a-car service
 Playground for children
 Credit cards accepted
 Dinner may be served in the room
 Facsimile services
 Games room
 Hairdresser's saloon
 Access to internet
 Kitchen
 Laundry services/washing machine
 Licensed bar
 Mixed dorms
 Around-the-clock recetpion
 Pets are accepted
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Fridge
 Restaurant
 Shop on premises
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Swimming pool
 Tea and coffee making facilities
 Phone at reception
 Patio, summer terrace