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Grenada needs help You can make a difference |
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On September 7th, 2004, Hurricane Ivan devastated the beautiful island of Grenada. The Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145mph, damaged or destroyed more than 90% of the homes and other buildings on the island. 60% of people remain homeless. The two main industries of the island - spice and tourism - have been decimated. In one village near St George's called D'Arbeau, that overlooks the National Stadium almost all the houses were completely flattened. One, more strongly built than the others, took a battering but remained structurally intact. After the hurricane, it became a shelter for nearly 50 people from the neighbourhood. The owner of that house is Adrian Blackman, a scuba instructor at the La Source resort. Adrian is the most prolific instructor in Grenada and has taught hundreds of holiday makers scuba diving over the last decade. A few years ago, he taught me to dive, and more recently was my instructor on my Divemaster course. Adrian and I have become good friends and we have stayed in close contact throughout the aftermath of the disaster. Although he has a major job ahead to repair his own house, he told me that he considers himself lucky, as he has insurance. Many of his neighbours' houses are flattened and many had no insurance. Imagine losing your house and everything you've worked your whole life for, and having no means to rebuild your home or your life. He has known some of his neighbours since he was a child and he is determined to help them rebuild. I am impressed that even with his own major problems, he is thinking as much about his neighbours as himself. I want to help him to help them, and I hope you will join in. A typical house is about 400 square feet (40 square metres), and there are quite a few to rebuild. See the photos at the bottom of this page. We think that the materials to rebuild will be available locally or can be imported from Trinidad. The plan is to use volunteer labour to do much of the work, but professional skills will be needed for some of it. So materials must be bought and some professional work must be paid for. This is an appeal to you help with those costs. If the plight of the people on this lovely island has affected you, there is no better way that you can help than by assisting to put roofs over their heads. If you want to make a difference, click the button below to make a donation and I'll make sure it gets to the people who need it most: |
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Or e-mail me here so I can send you arrangements for donations by cheque and money order::
Alec MacAndrew |
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Go here for a site that contains constantly updated information and lots of photographs of the damage: |
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| Photos from D'Arbeau
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