Day Five - Rachael's Birthday!

DAY FIVE – THURSDAY

Day Five arrived with sun and heat. And Rachael’s birthday!!

ARIANA – “To surprise Rachael on her birthday, we decided to wake up early and all go on a walk. We were trying to wake up at 6:15 to go on the walk at 6:30. But then we ended up waking up at 6:23ish. We all got dressed and headed over to the others. (Rachael is in a different condo). No one in there was awake so we said “Happy Birthday Rachael!” to wake up Rachael. We ended up waking Claire and Alexis as well. When Rachael was up and ready we walked down to the beach and had a great walk picking up shells and enjoying the great view of the beach.”

Great day. A day of completion. Our goals were to finish painting, distribute the food packages, and finish assembling new benches for the parish grounds.

Day Five was hot the entire day. Unlike Tuesday and Wednesday there was no cloud cover in the morning to cut the heat. Fortunately, we were able to work mostly in the shade or in the parish hall. We divided into three teams – two completed the painting; two did benches; and two made gazpacho soup that we will deliver along with the food packages.  

We made 5 gallons of gazpacho which was distributed with the food packages. A lot of chopping and assembling but blessedly not as much simmering as the red beans and rice. Gazpacho soup was accompanied by another interesting market adventure. There are two grocery stores in Governor’s Harbour – one is tucked away and used by locals. The other is on the main street and is accompanied by a gas station. This one is used by locals and tourists and tend to be more expensive. However, it had more selection and was laid out with more room. Shannon took us shopping and gave us a lesson in import duties and brands. The products from the US cost more than the same product from Canada – up to 3 or 4 times as much. Fruits and vegetables are mostly imported into Nassau and then distributed to the islands. They are expensive and not very fresh. There is almost no gardening in Eleuthera although the climate could support growing a wide variety of vegetables; nor is there much gardening infrastructure in terms of local knowledge, tools and compost. The local diet is rich in starches such as grits, rice, beans, marcaroni and farina. In the summer there is an abundance of local fruits grown in most backyards such as mangos, sugar apples, a local plum variety, and tamarinds.

We divided into three teams for food distribution – one went to Gregory Town, one went to Savannah Sound and one delivered food in Governor’s Harbour. These distributions were the highlight of the trip so far. Rachael was struck again by how deep roots go in Eleuthera. Land occupancy in many settlements is based on your ancestor’s residency. In Savannah Sound, a person can register with the community council for a 100x115 foot plot of land for $36. They are then free to build a house and live there so long as they pay dues of $500 per year to the community council. Upon death they can leave the house to their direct descendants or the land goes back to the community. However, in Governor’s Harbour the ancestors had sold their land to outsiders when times were bad so residents of this settlement must pay cash for their land. They have direct ownership and can will it without restriction. Faith said that settlements are identified with last names – the Thomases live in Gregory Town.

The Bahamians who we served said that they feel very safe. Crime is low. People are interrelated across the islands. We met many people who are born and will die in their settlement. 85% of Bahamians are of African descent and are descendants of slaves who were brought here by British loyalists from the Carolinas at the time of the American Revolution to grown cotton. A major concern raised by the priest at St. Patrick’s is the illegal immigration by Haitians who “are a drain on the government”. They cannot legally work because they cannot get a work permit although they do work under the table. Their children attend government schools and families use the government medical clinics. They don’t pay taxes –the only tax in the Bahamas is a 7.5% VAT.

One theme that struck Ariana (and all our team) was the spirit of joy and gratefulness in those we served, the spirit of community, and welcoming hospitality. Lance, Jenness, Ariana and Alexis visited a family that was very poor and lived in a house with a couple of rooms and a dirt floor. They shared how blessed they were in their lives even while sharing stories that told of a hard life. Praising God is an attitude and way of life here.

Faith shared how welcoming the families were – inviting us into their homes and sharing their stories and their lives. They were excited to meet the mission team and shared with pride the history of their community. We learned that Savannah Sound has a deep history of producing educators. Savannah Sound includes Windermere Island where the billionaires own homes and where the British Royals stay when in Bahamas. A local baker was invited to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and proudly displays his invitation. Another man wrote the melody and words to the Bahamian national anthem.

Sara said that the families she visited talked about the impact of the hurricanes. The hurricanes come and they come and they come. Homes are demolished but there isn’t money to rebuild. Roads are washed out and left unrepaired. In fact the road in front of the church is impassable due to hurricane damage. Everywhere we turn there are homes that are well maintained adjacent to buildings that are destitute.

Claire was struck by the large number of dogs and cats wandering around. The local dogs are called pot cakes because they were fed the scraps of food left over in the pots and patted into a cake. At one home we spotted four cats in the back yard – “oh, that’s nothing” said the grandmother – we have a whole bunch next door at my mother in law’s! Every home seemed to have large number of dogs and cats which Bailey noted were probably a key in keeping homes safe and rodents at bay.