Africa Calling (1/5) - Dr Tricia Lawrence-Savane

Centuries ago Africa was forced to dispel its children to what is no the Caribbean. But some daughters of the soil are returning to find welcoming arms and their place in the sun. Five Caribbean women talk to Lisa-Anne Julien about making Africa their home. "Really, Africa is not that far, just look across the Atlantic from the Caribbean. You can almost see it," urges one of the new arrivals.

Dr Tricia Lawrence-Savane is a student services director and therapist. From Trinidad to Senegal.

Getting to her Catholic secondary school on time every morning was often an uphill battle for Tricia Lawrence. Literally. The school, perched on a 60O-angle hill, seemed deliberately designed to remind those in mid trod, just how Jesus must have felt carrying his cross on the way to Calvary.

For Tricia, the daughter of a teenage mother from a disad­vantaged background, every step up was one step more towards breaking that cycle. Today, Tricia has not only broken the cycle, she has flung its pieces far into the recesses of yesterday, never to haunt her again.

In 2000 Tricia was awarded a Tuner post doctoral fellowship after obtaining her doctorate in psychology in New York, USA. During this time, she met and fell in love with Lamine Savane, a then basketball player. They married in 2000 on Goree Island, off the coast of Larnine's native Senegal, a ceremony which involved libations at the "Door of No Return" (doorway to the ocean where Africans left as slaves never to return). The family settled in New York but when Lamine was offered an opportunity to return to Senegal to launch a sports agency, he enjoyed Tricia's full support and they moved to Dakar in 2004: a move that would probably surprise most people. "Everyone thinks that you have to be certifiable to leave the US to go live in Africa!" Tricia says.

She quickly got into the rhythm of African life and began to excel; she is currently the student services director at Suffolk University Dakar and also a therapist in private practice.

In addition to this, she is involved in. along with her husband and brother-in-law, a non-profit organisation, XAM XAM (meaning "Knowledge" in Wolof). The initiative is intended to benefit student athletes by providing scholarships and sponsorships.

Apart from battling asthma, Tricia loves the African experience. She also admits that seeing so many people in poverty is difficult to digest but she remains inspired by the Senegalese people, who, she notices, do not hesitate to share what little they have. She has mastered French and Wolof and because of her complexion is often being mistaken for one of the Toukouleur people of northern Senegal. But more than anything else, Tricia enjoys raising her two children, daughter Marcire and son Landing, on the vast landscapes of Senegal.

"They will grow up having known the true Africa, not an Africa as portrayed by the media, but the real thing," she says. "How they feel about Africa and the decisions they make later in life will be highly influenced by this experience."

Tricia encourages anyone flirting with the idea of migrating to Africa to seriously consider it. "You need to believe in yourself first," she advises. "Get involved by volunteering to work in Africa or find out through your local church if there are any missionary opportunities. Really, it's not that far, just look across the Atlantic from the Caribbean. You can almost see it"