Rastas Opt Out – Warn of “Vaccine Intimidation”

The Rastafarian community in Barbados is casting a wary eye on the government’s vaccination drive and redoubling its support of alternative, plant-based treatments to prevent COVID-19 infection. Paul “Simba” Rock, president and founder of the Barbados- based African Heritage Foundation (AHF)

Paul Simba Rock, president and founder of the Barbados-based African Heritage Foundation (AHF) and public relations officer of the Rastafarian Progressive Movement in Barbados (RPM) said the community is “totally” against vaccines on religious grounds. The Barbados government has declared no one will be forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine. But that hasn’t instilled confidence among the 4,000 Rastafarians who make up about 1.5% of the population. The Rastafarian movement wrote to Prime Minister Mia Mottley requesting that its members be issued certificates of exemption from vaccination requirements.


Barbados To Digital Nomads: Come, Stay a While…

After the deadly COVID-19 virus spread like wildfire across the globe, Nicolas Muszynski, a renewable energy specialist, and his wife, Marie-Laure Ollier, a freelance interpreter in the school system, yearned to relocate from their Montreal, Canada residence to a safer country from where they could live, work and educate their two young daughters. 

When the couple read an announcement that Barbados was offering foreigners the chance to work remotely in an idyllic environment, they jumped at the opportunity. In July, Nicolas and Marie-Laure learned that Barbados, the birth place of super star Rihanna, had introduced the Barbados Welcome Stamp which made it possible for high net-worth visitors to live in the sun-drenched island  for 12 months. On September 3, Nicolas, director of Renewable Energy Storage with Renewable Energy Systems, touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados. His workplace is now the family’s rented one-storey villa in a hotel resort and golf course on the southern coast of the island. Nicolas described Barbados’ Welcome Stamp as the most fitting name.