Mountain Caapi Cottage Retreats

SUNY Cortland Students explore Resilience & Education in Dominica

“It pushed me both physically and intellectually and really opened up my eyes to the rest of the world,” (Phoebe Peer, a childhood education major who traveled abroad for the first time)

Caapi Retreats collaborated with Professor Jeremy Jimenez to co-create this unique Study-Abroad program for education students from the State University of New York (Cortland). The program focused on the intersection of the environment and education in Dominica, and included teaching at a local primary school, workshops with Kalinago Elders, a private screening with the director of the film "Uncivilized", agricultural work with Cochrane Women Farmers group, and meaningful discussions on navigating the challenges of the meta crisis, both personally and professionally. Snorkelling on Dominica's pristine coral reefs, waterfall hikes and beach time were also part of this 10-day program.

Big Kudos and thanks to our amazing partners; Pioneer Preparatory School, Chef Jerry of Jean's Cuisine, Numero Uno Tours & Taxi Service, Gerard and Miranda of the Karina Cultural Group, Cochrane Women In Action and Michael Lees of One-Off Productions.
Caapi Retreats has over 10 years of experience hosting retreats and curating hands-on learning programs for university student groups from the USA, Canada, and South America. We welcomed the State University of New York for the first time, and look forward to this being another annual, study abroad program in Dominica.

For information about this program:
SUNY Program Overview: https://cortland.via-trm.com/program_brochure/32754

SUNY Newsletter Article: https://www2.cortland.edu/bulletin/news-detail.dot?id=f53518b98732bcd91d62602d34d72719&backUrl=/bulletin/issues/bulletin-25-26/bulletin-20-july-21-2026

It was a joy to host the third An Ba Lanme Residency here at Caapi, in partnership with WAA (Waitukubuli Artists Association), Waituciruqe and Association Zofi, bringing together artists and performers from Martinique, St Lucia and Dominica. It concluded the journey that moved from language to the sea, and from the sea to stories. This 9-day residency was a collaborative exploration that inspired new forms of movement, circus arts, photography, food, dance, poetry…always asking the essential question; What stories do Caribbean artists want to tell?
Certainly, not the ones imposed from the outside, but the ones they choose to write for tomorrow. And for today.

“The Caribbean remains trapped in imposed narratives: a tourist paradise, a territory of disasters, an open-air colonial museum. These stories freeze populations in a temporality that is not their own, in a perpetual present with no possible projection.
Folklore becomes a trap when it locks people inside a fantasized authenticity, when living culture is reduced to dances for cruise ship passengers.

Faced with this narrative capture, Caribbean Afrofuturism offers an escape route: reinvesting fiction not as a form of retreat but as a political act. It creates worlds where Caribbean people are no longer objects of history but its active subjects. This approach responds to an urgent necessity: producing new images and new narratives that short-circuit dominant representations. Speculative fiction thus becomes a tool of resistance, allowing artists to bypass colonial story frames and imagine other possible futures.”
(From An Ba Lanme Curatorial Statement)

Most Photos Credited to: Adeline Rapon, An ba Lanme project 2026

Last month we were thrilled to host students and faculty from East Carolina University at Caapi Cottage Retreats during their Therapy Abroad program in Dominica. At Caapi, the group recharged each day, nourished by our rainforest setting, lush gardens, and buffet meals provided by our local chef. They also engage with and learn from the local residents of Cochrane village, and the wider Dominican community.

Therapy Abroad programs in Dominica provide students with structured access to real-world healthcare and educational settings through established partnerships with Dominica’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and local NGOs. Participants contribute to sustainable initiatives in public health, rehabilitation, and education, gaining firsthand experience in how culture, language, and systemic context shape healthcare delivery. https://www.therapyabroad.org/ta-programs/dominica-pre-health-nursing-rehabilitation-sciences-programs/