Christmas in Jamaica’s hurricane-hit Black River is looking a little brighter thanks to the timely arrival of a cargo ship filled with aid from the Cayman Islands.
“When I saw the aid being unloaded in Jamaica, I cried. I knew we had done it, we got it there,” said Sherry Ann Smith, who coordinated the collection and shipment of essential supplies, including water, food, clothing and medical equipment.
A weeks-long effort involving communities and businesses across the Cayman Islands culminated in the humanitarian voyage of the Sensational I, which arrived in Kingston last week carrying an estimated CI$150,000 worth of aid.
For Smith, the effort was a labour of love to help a sister island in need.
Navigating the logistics, red tape and costs associated with the mission proved far more challenging than she initially had imagined, but seeing the aid reach some of the hardest-hit communities made it worthwhile.
“I would do it again, because it put a lot of smiles on children’s faces this Christmas,” she said.
At a church in St. Elizabeth, which has been transformed into a distribution hub, volunteers spent Monday unpacking bags and boxes of donated supplies.
Pastor Tricilda Powell of the Church of God of Prophecy said the aid is being distributed across multiple parishes, including remote rural communities that remain in desperate need.
“Some areas still have standing water, and we have to reach people on foot to get supplies to them,” she said.
When volunteers arrive with aid, Powell said, the first thing people ask for is water.
“We have a saying in Jamaica that water is life. When we give people water, we are giving them life.”
‘It’s really heartbreaking’
Nearly two months after Hurricane Melissa battered Jamaica, the situation remains bleak in parts of the western parishes.
Captain Larry Burrowes, a local fisherman and community leader assisting with distribution, said many families are still struggling to survive.
“Some people still don’t have anywhere to sleep. They have no clothes. It’s been really, really rough on a lot of people,” he said.
“In some communities, there’s still no light, no water, and people are living in tarpaulins or small tents. You see small children on the roadside stopping you and asking for food. It’s really heartbreaking.”
Against that backdrop, the arrival of so much aid from Cayman in the week before Christmas was a Godsend.
“Just a couple of days ago, the boxes were right up to the roof,” Burrowes said, gesturing to the church’s high vaulted ceiling. “Everything in this church is what arrived from Cayman.”
Panning his cellphone around the building, Burrowes showed teams of volunteers unpacking boxes of bottled water and cereal as they prepared individual aid packages.
“It’s really a large amount, and we’re happy to receive it from the Cayman people. A lot of people here are in dire need,” he said.
The supplies from Cayman also included critical medical equipment, which has been trucked to the hospital and medical centres across the region.
Assembling the cargo
Over several weeks, volunteers in Cayman marshalled businesses and residents to fill four shipping containers with donated goods. By the time the ship was loaded, there was so much aid that additional supplies had to be stowed in the vessel’s hold.
Smith, who has family ties to Jamaica, said helping felt deeply personal for many involved in the effort. Hurricane Melissa would have only needed to shift a few degrees north-west and the shoe could have been on the other foot.
Smith said, “When I saw the devastation that was coming, I said, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s get this together and get them some supplies.’”
‘A heart of gold has been shown to Jamaica’
Pastor Powell said donors could be assured their contributions were reaching those who needed them most. The church has even postponed worship services to continue operating as a relief centre.
“It’s not about the building, it’s about people. Loving people is loving God,” she said. “We have to care for people to show what Christ would have done.”
She added that the outpouring of support from Cayman had not gone unnoticed.
“We are so grateful. We appreciate everyone in Cayman who came on board to show brotherly and sisterly love. It’s truly a heart of gold that has been shown to Jamaica.”
The aid was co-ordinated with the help of the Breds Foundation, a community non-profit in the area.
Captain Dennis Abrahams, a board member of the group, said everyone in Jamaica was grateful for the support.
“You have done an amazing job,” he said, “and I want to say a big thank you to the folks in Cayman who made this possible. We are so grateful to know that Cayman loves Jamaican and we love you too.”