Food Update

I spoke to Sandra this morning.  This has become our habit as it keeps
me up to date and allows me to keep her up to date on my food forays.
She has recounted the number of homes and found we were short by 10.
Fortunately I had been buying by the case so there was extras of many
items that I was hoping to add to for the next delivery.
I am going to switch to buying some of the items in bulk such as
flour, sugar, and rice.  The ladies will then repackage themselves in
small 2 lb bags.  This will allow us to send more for our money.  I
will have to go searching for places where I can buy the giant bags of
goods but fortunately I know just where to get the small plastic bags.
I am encouraged that the ladies are anxious to take on the task of
packaging and sharing the food that comes down.  It has been a lot for
Sandra to handle on her own and it will be a way for the community to
work together in a very positive way.
Thank you so much to all of you who have donated monies to be used to
help those in need in our area.  I plan to use any excess to donate to
the school feeding program in Canaries which has been disrupted.  Many
of the village children are already undernourished and rely on this
meal 5 day per week as their major source of nutrition.  No wonder
these children struggle in school and life.  Let's hope the kitchen
area can be quickly repaired to allow food preparation to begin, even
if school is not in session.
Sandra reported that more and more people are walking up from Canaries
to do washing and to collect water.  This is a drive which takes us
about 10 minutes so you can imagine how hard it is.  Fortunately, the
return trip with the wet clothing and water is mostly downhill!!!  The
sun however is very hot and many of the trees provide little shade
having lost their leaves in the hurricane.  There will be many of the
old folks who cannot make this trek.
Word is that there is no rain in the immediate forecast.  This is good
news as so many areas are still quite unstable and couldn't withstand
any more rain.  It is also bad news as many areas still do not have
water or have just about run out of the water they have stored.  With
the dam continuing to be out of commission, Castries has had to rely
on redirected water from old catchments and re-activating old water
lines to get service to some areas that were connected directly to the
new resevoir and dam.  I spoke to someone yesterday whose husband is
with Wasco, the water agency.  She said she has hardly seen him in the
2 weeks since the hurricane as they work around the clock.  Her
husband says that this will be the norm for quite some time to come.
I hope he is paid for all this overtime as she works in a spa at
Windjammer resort which is now closed indefinitely.
I am off now to town to purchase the clear plastic bags for the rice,
flour etc. and to see if I can source out the bulk items I need.  I
have a few ideas but it will undoubtedly be another adventure.
Please pray for continued safety in our village and the growing sense
of community that this disaster has created.  Also continue to pray
for those in Canaries that are the most vulnerable, that relief will
continue to arrive on a regular basis, and that the water system can
be restored in much less time than predicted.
Blessings to all;
Auntie Shel