heartache all along her path...
our return traveled route, starting in Marsh Harbor
I got an email yesterday that I want to share:
"Watching the Bahamas is haunting me.
Watching the devastation to areas like the “mud” which is made of Haitian people just trying to find a better life - is messing with me. Good people. No different than us, except where they were born and where they were a few days ago. And the biggest deal, they do not have the safety nets we were all born with below us.
Cam helped me sail Prodigal back to Ft. Pierce from Marsh Harbor in June. I took him to all my favorite hot spots along the way. They are all gone now.
After reading through their emails and shuffling through my own memories I'm overwhelmed with the horror of all my Abaco friends being homeless and destitute. There is zero government aid for the many hundreds of Haitians who lived in the mud. (the illegal Haitian Shanty Town) So now they have no home, no job, and no hope. What will they do?
One example I think of is Mr. Vill. Vill was a security guard at the marina. He let Cam and I sit in his guard shack (photo above) one Saturday when we were out on a hike and it started pouring down rain. We sat and visited with him escaping the rain for over an hour while Cam grilled him with questions. Vill has a daughter in college over in Nassau. He's from Haiti and has been working at this marina since he was 18yoa and arrived in Marsh Harbour. Now his house is gone, his marina is gone, his livelihood is gone. Where is he and what will he do? How will his daughter say in college without his monthly paycheck?
Skip took me to some of the neatest places and we talked to some of the kindest people.
I talked to, and feel like I “know,” people from the areas hurt the worst by this hurricane. They are great people. They are Just trying to make it...
Watching the devastation to areas like the “mud” which is made of Haitian people just trying to find a better life - is messing with me. Good people. No different than us, except where they were born and where they were a few days ago. And the biggest deal, they do not have the safety nets we were all born with below us.
Cam helped me sail Prodigal back to Ft. Pierce from Marsh Harbor in June. I took him to all my favorite hot spots along the way. They are all gone now.
i also got an email from s/v Jubilee:
"Memories of the "Mud Walk" (we both felt enriched by that walk) are making me sad. Hope these adorable brothers and their family made it through." - Leslie & Phil / sv Jubilee
Haitian security guard, Mr. Vill.
After reading through their emails and shuffling through my own memories I'm overwhelmed with the horror of all my Abaco friends being homeless and destitute. There is zero government aid for the many hundreds of Haitians who lived in the mud. (the illegal Haitian Shanty Town) So now they have no home, no job, and no hope. What will they do?
One example I think of is Mr. Vill. Vill was a security guard at the marina. He let Cam and I sit in his guard shack (photo above) one Saturday when we were out on a hike and it started pouring down rain. We sat and visited with him escaping the rain for over an hour while Cam grilled him with questions. Vill has a daughter in college over in Nassau. He's from Haiti and has been working at this marina since he was 18yoa and arrived in Marsh Harbour. Now his house is gone, his marina is gone, his livelihood is gone. Where is he and what will he do? How will his daughter say in college without his monthly paycheck?
Views of 'The Mud' the Haitian Shanty Town
Views from my walks through the Mud 2018
The Mud after Dorian
It's so incredibly sad... please remember them all in your prayers.
- Skip
