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Hurricane Relief Efforts Ongoing in the Bahamas
Carol Garrison, Special to RedCross.org
Friday, December 10, 2004 — Bahamas resident Katty Etienne doesn’t normally celebrate very much during the holidays, but this year she says she will – because there is much to be thankful for. After surviving two devastating hurricanes less than a month apart, she is grateful that her family weathered the storms without injury and her home only sustained minor damage.
Katty Etienne, with her five-year old son Latario have been assisting the Red Cross with their relief distributions.
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The Bahamas Red Cross with the support of the American Red Cross has been assisting hurricane-affected communities like Katty’s for the past two months with food parcels, plastic sheeting, blankets, mattresses and clothing. Although most communities in the Bahamas are well on the way to recovery, some are still struggling to recover.
The Treasure Cay Farm, often referred to as just the "Farm” is a small community of just 125 families. Most residents are Haitian immigrants and are employed at the nearby citrus groves, earning less than half the mandatory minimum wage. Katty has one of the better jobs working in the orchard nursery for $4 an hour. Other residents work as pickers getting paid for each large carton they fill—on average a picker may earn $20 a day.
Chickens and children run freely on the Farm, and lines of freshly washed laundry flap in the wind. The homes of the residents are not much more than wooden shanties with wooden or tin roofs. Many homes still have tarps covering them, evidence of the damage inflicted by the recent hurricanes.
In the evening, residents must rely on candles and oil lamps for lighting—the electricity was knocked out during Hurricane Jeanne more than two months ago and still hasn’t been restored. Water services just resumed in recent weeks and even now the services is limited to daytime hours.
Katty has been actively assisting the Red Cross with their distributions by helping with translations between English and Haitian Creole and ensuring that the relief items are distributed to all residents in need. A bright, young woman, Katty has emerged as an informal leader and representative for the other community members as a result of her activities with the Red Cross. Although Katty was born in the Bahamas, both her parents emigrated from Haiti more than 20 years ago with the dream of helping their families back home and building a better future for themselves. Two decades latter Katty has a similar wish for herself and her five-year old son.
Hurricane damaged homes like these are a common site on the Farm. |
The Haitian residents on the Farm don’t typical celebrate Thanksgiving and were surprised on Thanksgiving Day when Red Cross vehicles pulled up that evening. With no light to assist them expect what was provided by the full moon, the Red Cross volunteers and residents quickly unloaded the donations of tarps and blankets.
As one of the only organizations that is assisting vulnerable populations like the Haitian community of the Farm, the Bahamas Red Cross is playing a critical role in the hurricane recovery and relief efforts. The American Red Cross has been supporting the Bahamas Red Cross through the deployment of personnel to assist with the relief operation. The American Red Cross has also designated $65,000 to support the on-going relief distributions in the Bahamas.
You can help those affected by this and countless other crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance, and other support to those in need. Donate online or call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Donations can also be mailed to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.
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