the barbudaful community

Here we feature some of the things that make Barbuda the vibrant community that it is. In the village there are events and activities on a regular basis, sports that include basketball and cricket matches, horse-racing and tennis. There are church fun-days and bank holiday camp-outs. There is the annual Caribana Festival in May with a Teenage Pageant, Caribana Queen Show, Calypso competitions and weekend beach bashes, and lots of groups that meet for various recreational or educational purposes at various places in Codrington.

Day care for younger children

There is a subsidised day care centre for the babies and toddlers of Council workers and a private day care, the Toddlers' Paradise Day Care, both in the village.

Toddlers' Paradise Day Care

The Toddlers' Paradise Day Care has spaces for a maximum of 20 children from 0 to 2 years old. The modern centre is open five days a week from 7.00a.m. and is run by Mrs Barbara Punter, who qualified in early childhood education in Canada. Mrs Punter, a member of the Living Faith Baptist Church, is assisted by five care givers. Cribs are provided for each child, who enjoy organised activities, free play, and listening to stories. The centre has a bathroom, kitchen, and playground and snacks and lunch are provided. For further information call Mrs Punter at the centre on +1-(268)-562-3523 or at home on +1-(268)-460-0589.

Pre-School

Barbuda has a successful pre-school run by the Barbuda Council. It has received support from the Coco Point Trust Fund for many years and concentrates on the best possible early years' education for all children. Elaine Teague is Head teacher and there are 75 children currently registered. Contact the pre-school on +1-(268)-460-0605.

Schools

There are two schools in Barbuda.

The Holy Trinity primary school had 270 pupils last year and the Principal is Ms Charlene Harris. The school can be contacted on +1-(268)-460-0095 and +1-(268)-562-1496.

The Sir McChesney George Secondary school had 112 students last year and the Principal is Mr John Mussington. The Deputy head is Mr Rexford Harry. Contact the school on +1-(268)-562-5761 or send a fax to +1-(268)-562-5761.

Barbuda Farmers' Co-operative

The goal of the Barbuda Farmers' Co-Operative (BFC) is to encourage the development of sustainable small scale farming in Barbuda based on co-operative principles. The group aims to incorporate all farmers - vegetable growers, poultry and livestock farmers - together under one umbrella and provide practical support such as the recent workshops on food safety and cheap seed-sharing initiatives. There are currently 14 members who demonstrate that individual farming activities continue to be a profitable undertaking on the island. The group initiates, develops and encourages better and more economical methods of producing food from healthy animals and are currently embarking on a new egg production project.

The Barbuda Farmers' Co-operative has recently increased its land to 25 acres at Highland, and farmers pay a membership fee of EC$25 and may hold up to ten shares in the business at EC$100 each. They welcome assistance from anyone who can support their initiative in the form of tools or other resources. For more information contact Mrs Ruth Hopkins on +1-(268)-460-0212 or Mrs Frances Beazer on +1-(268)-460-0675.

libraries and museums

Barbuda Library Association

The Barbuda Library Association was founded in 1996 with the sole aim to build a library on the island. The group has successfully raised over EC$35,000 since that time through donations from supporters and by organising various events, including the very popular Christmas Spectacular. This was held for several years at Madison Square on every 23rd of December and the whole village gathered together to show off their talents in the arts and share a meal. The Barbuda Library Association offers many thanks to all who have participated so far in this endeavour.

Currently the BLA is planning to use some of the funding to supply the materials for the designated reading room in the new Community Centre on River Road. This will include a large number of books, and computers available to the community.

For further information contact Reverend Dr Patrick Thomas on +1-(268)-460-0496 or Mrs Frances Beazer on +1-(268)-460-0675.

We would like to have a Museum of Barbuda

Sadly Barbuda has no museum at present. Visitors often come to the island, find fascinating artefacts and then remove them to other museums around the world “for safe-keeping”. So there is an urgent need for all of Barbuda's cultural and historical artefacts to be inventoried, preserved and displayed permanently in Barbuda for the benefit of local people. This would contribute to our economy through tourism and would firmly place Barbuda's unique history in the wider history of the Caribbean and the world.

A museum would facilitate the storage of archival materials, including The “Codrington Correspondence”; a collection of more than 500 letters concerning Antigua and Barbuda written by the Codrington family and their overseers. This collection was sold to philatelists in the 1950s, but was microfilmed by the University of Texas at Austin and is available for use there. Gregg Wilson, who spent several years as a teacher on Barbuda, purchased copies which could be organised, scanned, and reproduced for display. Also see our pages on the Amerindian presence in Barbuda and the colonial period to 1900.

Government buildings and services

There is a Post Office and Office of Tourism in the village and a centre for the Lagoon National Park, to enhance the visitor experience to the world renowned Frigate Bird Sanctuary.

The Ginnery is the old building, once used to store sea salt, and currently the place where Council meetings are held. The main Council office is opposite the Post Office.