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| Artist impression of Alwen's Promise |
The promotion of chocolate production is an outgrowth of our Chocolat de la Dominique promotion of July 2008 and enhances the product. By having the Center located near to Alwen’s Promise we intend for it to become an attraction where the following takes place.
Heritage and Eco-Education:
Ship borne tourists can visit and witness chocolate production, learn the history or heritage of Layou Valley and “Cocoa Center” where project inspiration Alberta Christian was born and her husband Wendell Christian served as a Soils Conservation Officer in the period 1947-1950.
Visiting Scholar and Researchers:
Visiting Scholar and Researchers:
Visiting cocoa scholars and researchers will spend time at Alwen’s Promise while lecturing about the science of cocoa production and chocolate manufacture to local farmers and other visitors from around the region, and the world
Green Power:
Green Power:
The facility to make the chocolates will be the first of its kind to run of solar/wind/hydro or “green” power. Wind technology has been used on island by project visionary Gabriel Christian in the 2002.
Training of Local Cocoa Farmers:
Training of Local Cocoa Farmers:
In its heyday Cocoa Center was the most prominent cocoa growing area on Dominica. The center will now train a new generation of cocoa farmer and empower them with the best practices for growing cocoa, properly fermenting the bean, best post harvest practice and link them to the value adding mill to be installed on site.
The center will be on the grounds of Alwen’s Promise, where lectures and training to local farmers would be provided in agro-industry, provide tours to local students; produce chocolate for local consumption and export; provide a resale item for local inns and hotels. In so doing the program would alleviate rural poverty and create new jobs in farming, manufacturing and marketing.
Local Value adding and Agro – Industry:
The center will be on the grounds of Alwen’s Promise, where lectures and training to local farmers would be provided in agro-industry, provide tours to local students; produce chocolate for local consumption and export; provide a resale item for local inns and hotels. In so doing the program would alleviate rural poverty and create new jobs in farming, manufacturing and marketing.
Local Value adding and Agro – Industry:
It would increase farmer education and earnings where we had a local company adding value to cocoa by making chocolate as we have done.
Local Health Education:
Local Health Education:
Encouraging locals and others to use cocoa products and chocolate grown on island would bestow a health benefit as cocoa is known to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetes, anti-cancer and overall wellness properties. The overall guidance of project on-site Director, Howard University trained General Surgeon Dr. Samuel Christian – author of the health and wellness book Mannafast Miracle (Pont Casse Press, 2010) adds value to the health and wellness aspect of the project and its value to the surrounding community.
History of Alwen's Promise
Alberta and Wendell Christian
Alwen's Promise is about heritage too. Al comes from Alberta Christian who was born on the project site in the 1920s where her father Aaron was the foreman at what was Layou Park Estate. Wen's comes from Wendell Christian, Alberta's husband. He met her in the late 1940s when he served as a Soil Conservation Officer - a position reserved for soldiers like himself recently demobilized from the British Army where he had served during World War II. Their promise was that one day they would return to the lush valley and contribute to its bounty by adding value.
In the 21st Century they embrace Alwen's Promise as setting a benchmark in eco-tourism and adding value to our beloved island. The project, designed by the award winning Cornel University derived Independence Energy Home team is built by Dominica's Stewco construction led by Stewart Paris. The local Project Director is Major Francis Richards, of LSBF Ltd. With the partnership with Chef Ushinsky, Alwen's promises the quiet comfort of an island paradise and a culinary fare which will inspire.
IEH created a modern, sleek home that blends into the landscape of the Alwen Group's pristine estate in Layou, Dominica, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The off-grid home, Alwen's Promise, will serve as an eco-inn in Dominica's flourishing eco-tourism industry and act as a prototype for sustainable development in the rest of the Caribbean. The design introduces high-technology and modern amenities to a developing country, yet blends in with the local architectural vernacular.
