PHILIPSBURG:---Roseann Rumnit’s How to Get to the Bridge is St. Martin’s newest “personal health” and lifestyle book, published by House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
The 2025 book received an early release just in time for the holiday season and is available at Arnia’s Bookstore (Zagersgut Road/Bush Road) and directly from the author, according to HNP.
Rumnit shared that over the years, she has endured a stillbirth and received diagnoses from doctors for “hormonal imbalances, cirrhosis of the liver, psoriasis, kidney and ovarian cysts, sickle cell anemia, high blood pressure, among other serious ailments.”
How to Get to the Bridge chronicles her “journey to get to the bridge, to where,” as she describes it, “I got my life back.”
The slim volume begins with “brief meanings and references of diseases, conditions, testing procedures, and terms” related to the writer’s “health education” over the last 50 years.
“The second part of How to Get to the Bridge is about using liquids, health drinks, and different types of beverages and soups for cleansing the body,” Rumnit wrote in the preface to her debut book.
“The third part focuses on hydrotherapy (external), such as bush baths. St. Martiners and other Caribbean people might be reminded of sea bath and river bath traditions.”
“Part four is linked to the age-old practice of reflexology. Here I share a type of ‘rub down,’ information that provides relief from body pain and soreness,” said the author. Sections 2, 3, and 4 show photos of the material and ingredients used by the writer.
The book maintains a clear connection to agriculture and healthy living—an expected theme given Rumnit’s agriculture advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s.
Rumnit also “calls on the reader to consult her and his health provider and to follow the advice of her and his doctor before making any use of information” from her “personal health journey.”
The publication of How to Get to the Bridge was made possible in part through the Sparks Association’s arts grant from the Collectivity of St. Martin, said Sparks president Leon Noel.
Rumnit was a founding member of Reserve Naturelle. She served as the founding president of the St. Maarten Dushi Tera Aruba Foundation and as vice president of the Handismart Handicap Association.
Rumnit has written newspaper articles and appeared on Lady Grace show (PJD-2), Youth Radio 92.5 FM, Laser 101.1 FM, MSR TV “Prevention Health Program,” Oral Gibbes Live TV, and other St. Martin media to address health and agricultural issues.
She has organized or participated in health and agricultural workshops for the Methodist and Anglican churches, Lions Club Health & Wellness Fair, UNESCO heritage programs, and the St. Martin Book Fair.
The island’s newest author, who hails from French Quarter, is the project coordinator of the Association Patrimoine Agricole Past and Present.
