Flooding in the missions
A neighbor of St. Anthony's Kitchen waves as the water flows by
Help and hope in the face of despair
3-foot-high water down the street from St. Anthony's Kitchen
(Monday, widespread flooding followed four hours of torrential rain in Negril, Jamaica. In its wake, a number of families struggled to put their lives back together.)
This past Monday afternoon Joan Cooney (our Get Kids to School coordinator) and I headed to Savanna-la-mar to buy a bicycle for one of our girls who had perfect attendance this past term and to buy more uniforms and shoes for the start of school. It had just started to rain as we left Negril. Finishing our business, we headed home. The intensity of the rain picked up and we soon encountered serious flooding on the main road. Fortunately our fourwheel drive X-Trail, sitting high, passed through pools of 3-foot high water. Joan occasionally would utter, “Oh my God!” As we approached Negril the mantra increased in frequency. We were shocked by the raging water rushing down from the hills and the widespread flooding. By now I had joined Joan in the “Oh my God” mantra.
Camping out at Mary, Gate of Heaven
When I got home I had 14 missed calls from Jeanese, a parishioner. I called… “Father, we are flooded out… everything gone!” Jeanese and her extended family (visitors to Negril would know Naldo, Papi, Jodi and Tikka) live in two small board houses, four rooms total. The yard was filled with debris. The first thing I saw upon entering the house was a large pile of stuffed dolls (like Beanie Babies) soaking wet and mudcovered. The only thing dry was what could be piled on top of several tall cabinets – all bedding and clothes were “wetted up”, as we say.
Monday night we had about 20 people sleeping in our church hall. On the way home we stopped at a grocery store and purchased what we would need for dinner and for breakfast. I gathered every towel, sheet, pillow and cushion at the friary that I could find. Next morning, by the time I took our dog J.B. out for his morning “break,” our guests were already eating breakfast.
The clean-up begins
Back in the yard of Jeanese, the clean-up began. Much-needed supplies to start cleaning were purchased, a truckload of ruined goods were hauled off to a nearby dumpster and a dozen jumbo garbage bags filled with wet, dirty bedding, clothes and curtains were carried to a laundry. I was touched to see Jodi and her cousin, at a laundry tub, cleaning each and every little stuffed toy. Ms. Pearl and St. Anthony’s Kitchen provided lunch for everyone on Tuesday and Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon several of the local hotels had come through with some bedding, towels and other household needs. Some mattresses had just been delivered to St. Julie (one of our churches) from Food for the Poor – God’s grace at work.
Jodi and a cousin scrubbing the dolls.
On Monday night in the grocery store Jeanese told me it was her birthday. “Oh my God!” I wished her a happy birthday and assured her that everything would be OK, which almost seems trite. But it’s true! We will have to get her cake when all is back in order.
Learn more about our missions in Jamaica:
Mary, Gate of Heaven
St Anthony's Kitchen Face book page
St Joseph Parish, Sav-la-Mar Face book page
This article was originally published in the SJB News Notes, August 14, 2014, edited by Toni Cashnelli
Posted in: Missions, News, Prayer, Saint Anthony
