Day Three - Meeting the community

DAY THREE - TUESDAY

Eleuthera is breathtaking in its beauty and quiet. The total population on Eleuthera is listed as 8,000 – about 1/3 in the north, 1/3 in the center, and 1/3 in the south. We are staying in the center of the island in Governor’s Harbor which was the first capital of the Bahamas in 1685. The buildings are one and two stories with typical British colonial architecture. In true British tradition the government buildings are color coded. Pink buildings are government, schools are yellow with green trim, police buildings are green and white. Construction is largely out of concrete. With no forests, wood must be imported and wooden buildings tend to be large and expensive.

The quiet is extraordinary. Our cell phones work only with internet and internet is limited to a small outside area between the two condos. We are all disconnected and the girls have commented about how much more community we have and how we are really present to each other and to our mission. Noises include the cicadas which serenade us morning and night, the laughing gulls and the wind. We are on the Caribbean side where the water is calm and there are no crashing waves or ocean sounds.

People are so welcoming. Everyone waves. The grocery stores are a community event. The rootedness of the Bahamas is striking. Except for a few Americans who have retired or have second homes here, the people in Governor’s Harbor are Bahamians whose families have been here for hundreds of years. Families include grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins – with hundreds of years of family history and place– something that is hard to imagine in Seattle.

On Day Three we woke up to hot rooms. After a breakfast of homemade bread, jam and peanut butter we were ready for work. Day Two we had two ministries – we began priming the two story rectory and we made a community dinner of red beans and rice for the parish.

Painting in the heat is really hard work. The girls engaged and within a short time the skills really improved. Our extended host families provided us with coolers full of ice. We are going through four or five water bottles each everyday. The girls are in teams and the teamwork is amazing. Jenness and Janice Curry joined us for painting, and painting, and painting. Janice’s granddaughter, Mandolin (age 11), has incorporated herself into our group to help with painting and our meals.

We ate lunch in the “prayer garden” – a new feature of the church grounds with trees, grass and benches. The prayer garden is a former parking lot. Now people are beginning to use it for lunch and sitting in the shade and quiet. In addition to quesadillas which we cooked in our unit, we were given pineapple tarts and mangoes by the community.

After lunch we split into two teams – painting and cooking. We have intentionally chosen to buy as much as we can here in Eleuthera to support the local economy, so we had two trips to the store for ingredients for red beans and rice. The grocery store is a social event. And so expensive!!

 While we were cooking an explosive storm blew through. With no barriers between Governor’s Harbor and the storm, the thunder and lightening exploded right on top of us. The rain was so heavy that we couldn’t see the sea which is less than 100 yards from the door. The windows were open and the community center had pools of water. Mops were in order. We mopped and decorated the parish hall at the same time!

Our cooking team was supported by an amazing woman, Sandra, who coordinates much of the food ministry at the parish including meals, food and soup distribution. She brought us knives and huge pots and energy. Sandra’s granddaughter, Dametra (age 8), has joined our mission team and helped with painting, cooking and community.

 RACHAEL – “Working here in Eleuthera has been such a blessing. Every Bahamian we have encountered has been nothing but kind and hospitable to us. My favorite moment so far has been cooking the sausage and rice meal and serving it to the Bahamians. We were able to be part of a tight community that is so welcoming and fun. When we ate the food with them, we mingled with everyone and got the chance to learn more about Eleutheran culture. I love meeting new people here every day and I look forward to making connections with more in the future.”

The community began arriving around 6 pm. We had the joy of meeting so many interesting people who were interested in building community with us.

After dinner we retired to our units, had our evening program and songs and retired. This was the first opportunity of the day to “connect” so some of us called home, checked Instagram, Facebook and email. The air conditioning had been fixed and we collapsed into bed.