St. Lucia Homecoming 2010

The Vision

In April 2008 the Government of Saint Lucia decided that special attention had to be given to the concerns of St Lucians resident in other countries. In June 2008, at a meeting held with the Saint Lucians living in New York, the Prime Minister committed himself to facilitating the reintegration of Saint Lucians living overseas into Saint Lucia. This commitment was reinforced with the appointment of Dr June Soomer, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for CARICOM and OECS, as the person who would be responsible for Diaspora issues.

In this regard, a Regional Integration and Diaspora Unit, headed by Ambassador Dr June Soomer, was established within the Office of the Prime Minister. One of the missions of this Unit is to facilitate the deepening and strengthening of connections between our nationals overseas and their homeland. At the 13th Biennial Convention of The Union of St Lucian Overseas Associations held in Barbados from 28 July to 03 August 2008, the Prime Minister further committed himself to ensuring that in the next few months systems would be put in place to ensure that there will have a one stop location that would be able to assist overseas nationals with a wide range of issues.

The 14th Biennial Convention of the Union of Saint Lucian Overseas Associations will be held in Saint Lucia in July 2010 and provides an opportunity for fulfilling some of these promises. To this end, Homecoming Saint Lucia 2010 is envisioned as a celebration of the contributions of Saint Lucians living overseas to their homeland and to their adopted countries. It is anticipated that this gathering will reunite old friends and families who have not seen each other since they said goodbye years ago.

Following on the theme of the 30th anniversary theme “….a journey to look forward to” we must continue to reinforce the foundation for that journey on a positive step, by including all Saint Lucians in our development. There are many Saint Lucians who have remained at home and who work very hard for the good of our country. Sometimes however they do not have the resources to make a bigger impact.

Saint Lucian Homecoming 2010 will give them a chance to form partnerships with their brothers and sisters who live overseas, who may have access to resources So in many ways Saint Lucian Homecoming 2010 will also be about taking the opportunity to say thanks to our people, wherever they live overseas or at home, for the ways in which they have held on to their country and have made it better in many ways. It also gives us a chance to revitalise of our communities and to encourage of all our people to come together for the development of our country, and to welcome our brothers and sisters home.

For this reason the theme for the Homecoming “Tout Sent Lisyen Se Yonn” signaling that it will transcend all lines that divide us This first Homecoming must signal to all that our nationals can continue to make their contributions to their country wherever they live. The mission therefore is to facilitate the deepening and strengthening of connections between our nationals overseas and their homeland. We have committed ourselves to ensuring that Saint Lucians living overseas are encouraged to invest their resources, skills and time in strengthening our society.

Check out the official St. Lucia Homecoming website here: http://www.saintlucianhomecoming.org/content/home