Thousands of apartments and houses were destroyed. Many were left flooded and uninhabitable by debris and storm damage. A resident of Tortola, Betty, experienced the destruction first hand. The roof of her apartment was torn away by the hurricane, the contents of her home scattered and flooded by heavy rains. Windows and shutters were destroyed whilst furniture and family possessions lay broken, piled high throughout her home. “There was so much debris in the yard. People were just passing, shaking their heads wondering when are these people going to clean up this place?” Betty says. On an island devastated by hurricanes, there were many things slowing down her ability to clear what remained of her home.
Since October 2017, All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response has been coordinating a relief program focused primarily on providing immediate clean up support and sanitation for a number of schools, educational facilities and childcare infrastructure across Tortola, which, alongside thousands of homes, continue to be affected almost 8 months later.
Life on Tortola was not easy after the hurricanes, the daily hunt for basic necessities left Betty little time to effectively clean away debris and restore her home to a habitable state. “Six or seven months after the hurricane, in March, I was still cleaning up debris in the apartment,” Betty recalls. For Betty and her family, the storm had forced different priorities upon them.
In March 2018, All Hands and Hearts worked to assist vulnerable residents in cleaning debris from their homes. Betty was one of 35 individuals who received immediate assistance. She had seen volunteers on the island as part of the school cleanup project, but a day came when she saw them assessing houses nearby. “All Hands and Hearts saw me, I saw them pass and they watched this apartment.Then, they went up the road, turned and I said to my son, they are coming to me!” When help was offered, Betty spoke with her landlord and work began to clear her home.
Volunteers began by removing debris which still littered Betty’s apartment. They stripped rotten door frames, windows and made what remained of the roof safe. “All Hands and Hearts came in and with their own hands cleaned up this place in 2 days!” Betty’s house had suffered extensive water damage, requiring cleaning and sanitation in order to be lived in again, a recurring issue throughout affected schools and homes on Tortola. The volunteers worked swiftly, giving Betty a respite from the mess. “When I came back I couldn’t believe that this place was totally clean, and we are thankful and are blessed to have had them.” Betty says, her home now ready for the next step.
All Hands and Hearts is continuing projects across the British Virgin islands. At the time of writing, work at the sole public high school on the island, the Elmore Stoutt High School has been completed, with debris removal and the demolition of damaged roofing completed at Wonder Years pre-school and the Rainbow & Autism centre, with repair works progressing. Alongside these projects, a number of other day care and community centres are continually being assessed.
The program is on course to positively impact over 3,000 children and vulnerable young adults, restoring education to schools across the region. The main focus of the program has been on education, but as work progressed, the urgent need for housing and repair works became immediately apparent. Through identifying some of the most vulnerable, such as Betty, the team of volunteers on Tortola have been able to expand beyond their focus on education, restoring homes to those in need. For Betty, she continues to see the impact of the storm months later, feeling that she has been fortunate since, “I know a lot of people still are cleaning after the hurricane, so we are thankful for that.” Life on Tortola may not be back to how it was, but for Betty and the children of the British Virgin Islands, it is moving in the right direction.
FOOTNOTES
Written by George Janes & photography by Mark Whale for All Hands and Hearts
