One of the many reasons to get excited about the just-completed Paris 2024 Olympics was the quadrennial opportunity to see smaller, lesser-known nations have their moment in the sun.
When those nations are among the 80+ countries and territories where Orchid’s Sage Add-ons have taken root, their success also provides us with a great excuse to resume our Going Global with Orchid series.
Ten (or so) things you may not know about…Saint Lucia
(Most of the information below is sourced from Wikipedia.)
- Saint Lucia is a mountainous island in the eastern Caribbean, forming part of the Windward Islands chain. It has a population of around 180,000.
- Agriculture, and especially bananas, was once the main contributor to the economy, but this has now been overtaken by tourism thanks to its tropical weather, scenery, beaches, and resorts.
Named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Saint Lucia is one of only two sovereign states in the world named after a woman.
- It is the only one named after a human woman - the other, Ireland, is named after a goddess!
- The island is believed to have been first settled by the Arawaks in 200-400 AD. The Kalingo arrived around AD 800, and seized control from the Arawaks by killing their men and assimilating the women into their own society.
- The Arawaks called the island Hewanarau (later Hewanorra), which means "there where iguanas are found". The Kalingo called it Iouanalao, meaning "Land of the Iguanas".
- England and France fought 14 times for control of the island from the 1660’s onwards, with the British taking complete control in 1814, shortly after their victory over Napoleon.
Due to this frequent switching between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West" after the Greek mythological character, Helen of Troy.
- After slavery was abolished on the island in 1834, all former slaves had to serve a four-year "apprenticeship", to accustom them to the idea of freedom. During that period, they worked for their former masters for at least three quarters of the working week.
- Representative government was introduced in 1924, universal suffrage was established in 1951, and Saint Lucia became an independent state on 22 February 1979.
At Paris 2024, Julien Alfred became the nation’s first-ever Olympic medallist, winning gold in the Women’s 100m sprint event.
- Alfred's win triggered an ecstatic reaction back home in Saint Lucia. Alfred followed this up with a silver medal in the 200m.
Orchid EFT's Global Footprint
Today, Orchid’s EFT Processing supports 800+ bank formats in 80+ countries.
From Aruba to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka to Saint Lucia, we may already have the format you need. If not, just let us know and we can set it up!
