Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.

But today its lush vegetation is dying as the effects of a volcano wreak havoc on the seven-by-11-mile island with a population of some 11,000 people. One third of whom have been evacuated.

Nevertheless, Dr. Sonia Meade will return to her home on Friday knowing fully of the devastation that has brought nearly all productive activity on the island to a standstill.

"This is really one continuous eruption that began way back in July, 1995,'' she explained from her office at Bermuda Health Care Services where she is working as a locum.

The 3,000 square foot Soufriere Hills volcano erupted again on June 25, putting the capital, Plymouth, the airport and the port at risk.

"I was in my office in Salem with a patient which is considered to be a safe zone because the volcano is on the south side of the island,'' she said of last month's eruption.

"I can remember listening to the radio around 12.35 p.m. on June 25. The volcanic observatory had just give us an update and it sounded like business as usual.'' Moments later a brisk warning to "get out of Plymouth (the capital)'' came stridently across the airwaves as the volcano spewed molten lava and ash from deep within its bowels.

"I excused the patient and went outside when I heard the warning and I could see the ash clouds which were carried on the prevailing winds over to the north of the island.

"The sunlight was totally blocked out and both the electricity and the radio went off.'' Dr. Meade said she became anxious at this point because her father was at home alone and she feared for his safety.

Fortunately, her father, who lived just three minutes drive away from her office, was unhurt but the visibility along the way was poor.

"The next day we began hearing the news. The airport was destroyed and people were feared dead.

"What were once green, verdant, rolling hills, looked like a snowscape from a distance because they were now covered in gray ash.'' This is where the real cost of the devastation was felt, she added, because the food belt -- an area surrounding the volcano and beyond -- was destroyed.

This meant that agriculture -- sweet potatoes, string beans and other foodstuffs -- were lost.

Moreover, the human cost to the tiny British colony is still not fully reckoned because evacuation began on April 3, 1996.

"We just take one day at a time in Montserrat,'' she said. "That's how we cope. If you speak to the older folk they are not anxious to leave because they feel that they do not have much to look forward to and cannot start all over again elsewhere.'' Meanwhile, Dr. Meade said her husband, father and other members of her immediate family are still there although her siblings and children no longer live on the island.

"I suspect there are going to be a lot of problems before it starts to get better because our Government has not paid much attention to infrastructure and human resources. And for this reason it will take longer to recover.'' Dr. Meade said she appreciated the support and sympathy that has poured in from Bermudians since the disaster struck.

St. John Ambulance donated an ambulance and the Bermuda Red Cross launched an appeal for money to support its counterparts -- the Red Cross National Societies and branches of the British and Dutch Red Cross Societies in the Caribbean -- in their efforts to help the Montserrat Red Cross.

Donations can be made at one of the three banks to the following accounts: Bank of Bermuda 1001-444517; Bank of Butterfield 006-060-663859-100; and Bermuda Commercial Bank 018-01-00688, or by mail to Bermuda Red Cross, Montserrat Volcano Appeal, Charleswood, 9 Berry Hill Road, Paget DV 03, or call 236-8253.

LIVING WITH A VOLCANO -- Dr. Sonia Meade HEALTH HTH