Some Headway

Finally managed to connect with Sylvanus to hand over the food I was
able to buy.  It took some doing to find him and then to get my car to
where he was parked but it all worked out in the end.
I sent down 31x 1 lb bags and 31x 2 lb bags of rice along with 2 cases
of 7oz. of 48 cans of tuna in each case, 10 large packages of oats to
be divided, 3 cases of lentils or 72 bags, and a large bag of sugar to
be shared for now.
To give you some idea of what $50.00 cdn can buy here:
10 lbs of rice
10 tins of tuna
10 lbs of lentils
10 lbs of oats
1 lb of sugar.
That provides  a real help when there is no food in the village.
The food I sent down today will create a smal blessing bag for each of
the 61 homes in the village.  Not much but a start and a way to reach
out and show that they are in the thoughts and prayers of a lot of
people.
Tomorrow I will meet Sylvanus again and hope to have pasta, flour and
more sugar.  After this we will start to assess where the greatest
need is and focus there.
I have heard that Simon, the local shop keeper had been able to get
transport to come in to town today so I am sure he will start to
restock his shelves.  Some of the folks are getting back to work now
so they will not need on going help.  Others however, rely on their
gardens to get by and most of these have suffered major damage.
I sent down the first batch of water tablets today and Katie is going
to be in charge of making sure they are used properly.  Sandra
complained that the water they are able to get from the river is very
dirty.  We talked through letting the water settle and then pouring if
out carefully into another container using the cloth Katie will have.
After this the water can be boiled or the tablets can be used.
I met Virgilia in town this morning.  She lives in Anse La Verdure and
owns a little shop.  On Fridays she makes a very popular goat stew
that seems to draw a lot of traffic.  The roof of her shop had blown
off and she was in town to get the screws with washers to re-attach
the galvanized.  Then she will be back in business.  She seemed quite
up beat and said she had been reminding folks that they must remember
the old ways and go back to them.  She has been cooking on her coal
pot and says others must be willing to do the same.  Good for her!
I spoke to a number of people in Castries today in the shops and on
the street to ask how they were managing.  All were worried most about
water and I have seen some creative solutions.  One young man on the
beach had found a pipe in front of the Rendevous Hotel which is
currently being renovated.  He was patiently sitting under a palm tree
watching the drips from the pipe fill his one litre bottle while he
watched the surf break on the beach.  Someone has made a bamboo pipe
on the road up to the Morne and people are using this to fill bottles
and jerry cans with the constant runoff from the hills about.  This is
on the outskirts of Castries.
Sandra said that NEMO has brought more water to the village, 2 bottles
per household and that the men from the area have been working to
clear and restore the water system in the village.  Yesterday they
repaired some of the pipes and had water at the pump house but
overnight the pipe burst again and today there is no water.
I am now able to connect with Sandra more easily.  Today I visited the
offices of Digicel and was able to top of my cell phone, which she has
at her home.  I was also able to buy another cell phone which means
she can keep mine for now.  This is one of the benefits of this
disaster.  In the past I was unable to purchase a phone myself as I am
not a National.  Today, they didn't ask me any questions and the price
is about one half of the usual cost.
Things here at Aunt Pat's continue to improve with the new roof in
place and most of the interior ceilings repaired.  The damaged trees
have been taken down and hauled away and most of the other debris has
been collected.  I think that there will be lots of work for the next
few months as people continue to repair their homes and make better
preparations for any future storm.
Lessons have been learned from Tomas but they are hard lessons.  It
has been 30 years since anything like this has happened.  Let's hope
it is even longer next time.
Blessings to all
Auntie Shel