SunWest has grown from our love for the island of St. Lucia. This love affair began over fifteen years ago when we first discovered St. Lucia on a week-long holiday. Stepping off the plane felt like stepping through a picture frame into another world. The lushness, stunning beauty, rhythmic sounds and friendly St. Lucian's lured us to return each year. 

Through a chance meeting of a "Lions Club" Member at a Rum Punch party, we were introduced to the Executive Director of the St. Lucia Blind Welfare Association. As a rehabilitation nurse with the blind in Canada, we instantly made a connection. I offered to volunteer on subsequent holidays and friendships developed with the staff and other St. Lucian's. Our children have had opportunities to volunteer on the island, as well, and this has provided them with amazing life experiences. Extended holidays allowed them time to research and study all the fascinating aspects of the island: history, geography, economy, vegetation, the language of Patois, politics and the strong links between Canada and St. Lucia. One St. Lucian remarked that we knew more about St. Lucia than the locals did. We were honoured to receive an invitation from Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy to attend and be introduced to her at a cocktail party at the Government House.

In 2001, it seemed the natural progression to build in St. Lucia.

We think that our daughter Lindsey has best described our family’s love of St. Lucia, our island in the sun, by means of a poem she wrote when she was 13 years old after we returned home from one of our vacations in St. Lucia. Please take the time to read it….it tells why we always go back……

There is a place far from here
where chimes of steel
sing songs, hot rays of sun pour from the sky
happy people dance and chant, with no worries or cares,
a place where you can be free. It is not a normal place to my friends,
To me it is a home away from home.
It is a magical dream to them that they hope will come true.

To me it is where I spend my best years letting my feeling flow.
It is the hot, exotic pictures in magazines and shows to them.
To me it is where my soul can sing and my mind can relax.
It is what they all ask me about….
What is the sea, sand, weather, life like there?"
To me the sea is like a warm cola that has been
shaken shattering refreshing, salty water running down my body.
To me the sand is hot and grindy, melting through my toes.
To me the weather is refreshing, steamy but healthy.

To me life is free, no worries, no cares.
It is amazing to them, a dream, a fantasy.
To me, it is my life, my home, where I belong.
If they wish, I will continue to explain this dream,
but no matter how hard I try,
they will not be able to feel my heart pounding
when I speak of my
home away from home.

Lindsey Skinner, age 13