Eye of the Storm

Not long after I arrived on the island, I received a very brief email from my brother that said “be careful of Irma!...” I’m fearful of hurricanes, so I took to the internet and followed her like a hawk. At that time, it had just formed off the coast of Africa, and it looked like we could potentially be in the path. I felt immense relief as she veered towards the Leeward Islands, but still I was captivated by the coverage and aghast at the impending devastation.

This country is called Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius and consists of those three islands; Sint Eustatius is affectionately called Statia by locals. I’m on the Southernmost island of Bonaire, which was unaffected by the tragic trio of Irma, Jose and Maria, but the tiny islands of Saba and Statia were destroyed.

Like most people after the storm, I was thinking about what I could do to help. People here on the island were posting on local facebook pages asking to organize the help that’s needed. In a couple of days, a facebook page came online, but even before that, people were already gathering supplies and holding fundraisers. The radio played everywhere you went announcing events like a local restaurant donating all the proceeds for an evening, and non-stop chat about the big party on the weekend. It was a party on the beach with a popular band headlining lots of local talent, where everyone who had raised money would announce their totals and you could make last-minute bids on the auction items before the winning bids were announced.

The tiny airport on this island that usually sits silent was now seeing flights coming and going all day long leaving with supplies and returning with refugees. The airport was loaded up with planes in the field seeking refuge from Jose and Maria. Cruise ships that were scheduled to visit the devastated islands visited our port nearly every day. The heat and the lack of wind seemed unbearable as the storms sucked up all the energy to our north, but it was hard to complain about the weather considering what our neighbors were going through.

It was beautiful to see the people on this island come together. It seemed the entire island turned out for this party with cars filling up overflow lots as people filed in on scooters and on foot. Here, it’s said, it doesn’t matter whether you’re the governor’s son or a fisherman’s son, everyone gets along, and that was evident by the kids of diverse races and cultures playing together the sand on the beach in front of the stage. In the back, there was a food court with about 30 stands offering local food with the proceeds going to disaster relief. The beer stands, where proceeds from the sales also being donated, were heartily patronized.

Local bands took the stage with a backdrop of photos of the hurricane damage and messages of hope. Auction volunteers manned a table to the side next to the Red Cross volunteers proudly standing by their flag. People who had come from the islands where they lost everything watched the show, enjoying the support of this wonderful community. Between acts, they showed this video produced by musicians who live on one of the most devastated islands. Please enjoy the uplifting music of the United Artists of Statia.

play viideo: "Eye of the Storm" by United Artists of Statia

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