Sleepless in the Bahamas took on new meaning after a sweltering night without fans or air conditioning. Tuesday dawned – another sunny hot day of over 100 degrees. Because we had no electricity and no idea when it would return we decided to keep the refrigerators closed. We had finished all the bread a few days earlier and the bakery was closed for vacation until later in the day. Breakfast was cold cereal without milk. Water with Crystal Lite (the strawberry flavor has caffeine, which Nancy, Lance, and Bailey took full advantage of). Chewy bars. Everyone was tired and cranky.
Bailey dug into her toolbox and retrieved 10 copies of the trip expectations. Before we headed over to the church to do our final work we formed into a circle to read team expectations. Bailey led us as we talked about which ones we were most challenged by and strategies to address it personally or with support from the group. Patience. Resilience. Attitude – we had plenty of attitude! All the adults participated as well. Cranky and tired applied to everyone.
After circle, we walked two blocks over to the church in the bright sunshine (and heat) to do our final projects. The afternoon was planned for more cultural events. We placed the six benches that we had made earlier in the week – two in the prayer garden, two around the church, and two around the parish hall. One team of girls made lunch. One team boiled eggs for breakfast on our final morning. Chris and Nancy washed up pots and pans from our units. Alexis played with Cameron but the rest of the girls were done.
Fr. Lance, Chris, Nancy, Alexis and Cameron made a swing using some leftover wood from the benches, two lengths of hose (5 feet each) and some yellow poly-rope. The church does not have a playground for the kids and Lance and Al thought a swing would be a great addition. About half way through the project Fr. Eldon arrived and walked over to join our swing party. Lance designed it all. After some negotiation with the ladder and the branch Lance threaded some yellow rope through a hose and swung the hose over the branch, tying a not right below the hose to make a fulcrum. Then the two lengths of yellow rope on each side were tied through the seat board. The height initially was too low. Fr. Lance, Cameron, Mandolin, Sara and Ariana all took a swing and after each Lance adjusted the rope til it was the right height! When we peeked around the parish hall about 15 minutes later two kids from the neighborhood were trying it out.
After lunch and a quick return to the cabin to change into bathing suits, Fr. Eldon picked us all up to go touring. First we went to the abandoned Naval Air Station at Governor’s Harbour. This installation was initiated in 1950 as a “listening station” during the Cold War. Although it was largely run by defense contractors, the base ultimately had about 100 servicemen and 45 Bahamians. The base was abandoned by the US Government in 1980 after negotiations failed with the new Bahamian Government for an extended lease. The US pulled out and left behind everything - buildings, machinery, telephone wires and equipment - all rusted in place. Fr. Lance describes the base as Jurassic Park.
Such a waste on both sides. The buildings now have collapsed roofs. Wires and transformers are hanging. There must not be a black market for copper in Eleuthera! One element of the installation that is still in use however, is the 100,000 gallon cistern. These tanks are the backbone of the public system which supplies water to much of the island from Gregory Town south to Savannah Sound. Until this system was converted to civilian use there had been no running water to homes on the island.
One fisherman that Nancy interviewed recalled having to haul water in 5 gallon jugs every morning before school. A parishioner from St. Patrick’s, Daniel, works as a lineman for the water system. The system is delicate and goes out with regularity. Janice said that one of her neighbors was once without water for four days. Imagine always being without water, though.
Our second stop was Navy Beach which is on the base on the Atlantic side of he island. It is beautiful. We met another church group from Florida who were there putting on a Bible Camp. The water was warm. There is a reef about ½ mile offshore so the waves were strong with a moderate rip tide but they were not breaking very high. It was well over 100 degrees with no clouds. Everyone jumped into the water including Fr. Eldon and Cameron. Everyone except Claire who couldn’t because of her stitches – but she found a way to have a good time walking the shoreline and burying herself in the sand.
The water felt so refreshing but it is really salty, much more so than the Pacific Ocean. The water hurts the eyes and nose. The Army Corps of Engineers built the Atlantic bulkhead on Navy Beach to withstand waves and hurricanes. In recent years some enterprising Bahamians have removed major portions of the bulkhead to use for building furniture. Within the last five years entire sections of pavement and the marine staging areas were destroyed by the storms and hurricanes. Much of life on Eleuthera is dated by Bahamians by the hurricanes – the one in 1992, or 2013. Just like we talk about the Inaugural Day Storm or the Hannukah Storm.
After about an hour at Navy Beach we loaded up and went ½ mile across to the Caribbean side. This was the first time we actually went from side to side to experience the majesty of each ocean. We went to a famous beach called Cocodimama – also known as the Navy’s playground. Cocodimama is hard to capture in words – even pictures. The beach itself is a wide arc that is about 1 mile from opening to opening. The water is two to six feet deep. Crystal clear. Calm as a bathtub.
The ocean floor is a wonder world of sand and shells. The beach is ringed by a line of conch shells about five feet into the water from the shoreline. Many of the shells are calcified. Generations of animals who made the shells their home have died and their tiny shells are cemented inside larger conch shells. Some still have crabs inside.
Because the water was flat Claire was able to swim in the ocean with her arm held over her head.
Faith thought the beach was beautiful and the water was a perfect temperature. Although we left the snorkels and fins back at the Laughing Bird we all practiced our new snorkeling skills, playing, diving for shells and just laying back and floating. Nancy could have stayed for hours. But this was our last night and we had to pack and have team closure.
The bakery was open so we went to purchase some coconut scones and raisin bread to eat for breakfast the next morning on the way to the airport. We tried to go to the gift store in Governor’s Harbour but they were closing for the day. Almost two weeks in the Bahamas and we only shopped in the one tiny gift shop in Gregory Town.
What started out as the toughest day of the trip, ended as one of the most beautiful and relaxing. Amazing how all is made new again in the Lord. The Atlantic waves knocked out the attitude and Cocodimama reset us as a team.
After a dinner of leftovers we ended our last evening with a nighttime program that provided closure. Each person had the opportunity to receive the gift of hearing from their team mates how they had been blessed by one another on this wonderful mission trip.
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