Garifuna drums are echoing through many communities in Central America, singing ballads of their ancestral land of Yurumein, today renamed by the British to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But their drums seldom beat on the land which Garifuna ancestors protected through generations. Labelled as cannibals by mercenary Christopher Columbus to justif...

  It has taken four months longer than anticipated, but they have done it. Richmond Vale Academy (RVA), which focuses heavily on sustainable living, is now on 100 per cent renewable electricity. The school's off-grid system now consists of an additional 48 new solar modules (panels), bringing the total photovoltaic array to an output of 32 kil...

Why did you choose this program? ​ When I started to look for volunteering opportunities, I was mainly interested in projects focused on environmental actions and climate change. Apart from the actual work done within the project, it was important to me to choose an organization that was well established and transparent. RVA's Climate Compliance Co...

They say that time goes by fast when you are having fun. I have to both agree and disagree. I have enjoyed my time at the Fighting Shoulder to Shoulder with the Poor program of course, and I can't even remember all the happy moments I have shared with my teammate and other students and teachers from our little school community. But it's not all abo...

Service Period Red Bank / Belize My name is Lina, I am a fine and visual artist and this story begins in Bogotá – Colombia. Going from home to work and from work to home, I accumulated hours and hours of daily thoughts and worries for several years. What I had not noticed was that they related not only to my life, but also to other beings, and I sa...

Young people from different parts of the world are taking the initiative to fight against climate change; we can see an example in the "Fridays for Future movement". Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is no exception. Richmond Vale Academy had the great opportunity to share 2 weeks with a group of teenagers from different villages of Saint Vincent an...

Richmond Vale Academy wins the Tourism Social Enterprise, a special award recognising an initiative by an individual or group/association which addresses social problems by applying innovative tourism development ideas. The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has recognised eight tourism entities from CTO-member countries with its top awards for e...

  Stina Herberg will speak at The annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development is part of the information dissemination and regional awareness component of CTO's Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. It looks at how member states can design and implement sustainable tourism policies and programmes offering a regional forum for in...

The horse school at Richmond Vale Academy (RVA), which catered primarily for international clients, is welcoming local students, thanks to sponsorship from Tus-T Water. With the sponsorship, RVA, whose curriculum focuses on sustainable livelihoods, has been able to recruit a Vincentian horse trainer as well as welcome local students. The new traine...

​ "Know that if someone is not living bravely,  they will resent your courage.  If someone is unhappy,  they will resent your joy.  If someone is hiding from the truth,  they will resent your honesty.  Move on. Keep moving." ​ - Maggie Smith All my life I have been a people pleaser – trying to make people happy or have...

Article written by Jessica den Outer* The effects of climate change are immense ­— ranging from desertification and deforestation, to a global increase in extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and ocean acidification. The most recent IPCC report reveals the potentially catastrophic consequences associated with a global temperature rise of 1.5º...

A project that trained five families in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to build their own biogas digester has won an international award. The Richmond Vale Academy (RVA) won the Energy Globe Award based on the project, which also teaches local communities about the benefits of biogas as a renewable energy, global warming, climate change and organic...

Working in a small space, with little soil and many constraints can spark a lot of creativity. I had been wanting to grow my own vegetables for a long time, but I felt restricted by my little backyard. When the students visited me for the first time, I showed them all my containers filled with herbs to make seasoning, Aloe Vera that I use as body l...

The Federation Humana People to People (Humana People to People) is excited and proud to release its Humana People to People Progress Report 2018, demonstrating the value of its work. The report provides an insight into the work of Humana People to People and its 30 member associations over the past year, including the shared commitment to attain i...

In Troumaca, a village in Saint David Parish, the North Leeward side of St. Vincent, there is a home-garden shaped like a sun. Tomatoes, lettuce, okra, beans, corn, basil, asparagus, pineapples, barbados cherry, soursop… from very common crops to rare ones in St. Vincent, a variety of vegetables and fruits are growing vigorously. n rabbits and thei...

Dear Friend and future participant, We are happy to welcome you to join one of our programs throughout the year. Richmond Vale Academy is a small non profit in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Most of the teachers have been in St. Vincent for many years and most have been trained in Africa at rural area projects in Zambia, Mozambique, South African ...

Many of the high school students who are close to finishing their studies have a big question in their minds: What do I want to do after this? That was also the question asked by Aster Davis, a young man from Chateaubelair who suddenly found the perfect answer to that question in the most simple way. During his last weeks of high school, Richmond V...

My name is Ms Emris Stapleton, from Chateaubelair. I am a Field Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture. I am also a farmer, an organic gardener and an active community member. The idea of growing food without pesticides and other chemicals is something that has always intrigued me, but I needed expert advice as to where to begin. The opportunity ca...

I am a student at the Richmond Vale Academy situated in St. Vincent and Grenadines and I will share with you my story about manure up to now (5 months). Collecting horse manure with bare hands is a sign of personal change for me! Yes, manure is natural gold but holding it with bare hands and then putting it into sacks by holding, maybe sometimes by...

Today is hump day! For the November Climate Compliance Conference students and facilitator hump day has a special flavour! Since January, Wednesday mornings have been pretty hectic at Richmond Vale Academy as we temporarily move to some villages nearby. From Wednesdays to Fridays, we have been living in Petit Bordel, Rose Bank, Troumaca and Rose Ha...