Men Of Vision Projects

Grenada Relief Effort

Introduction:

Men of Vision director, Ken Ardiel, traveled to Grenada in late October and filed this report:

We met with local pastors and with several contractors and conducted a physical inspection of 38 homes and two churches that were damaged or destroyed.

Our goal is to see these homes rebuilt or repaired, and our survey process included a board by board analysis of the required building materials to achieve that goal. We are seeking donations of large quantities of plywood, lumber and roofing, and that which is not donated will be purchased at wholesale prices, loaded and shipped.

Once in Grenada, the materials will be transferred from the port of St. Georges to a yard that we have secured, and will be guarded and overseen by a local materials manager retained by Men of Vision for this project. Materials will be released only when the site and foundation are ready for immediate construction. Construction of each home must be completed within ten days of release of materials and our materials manager will be taking pictures of the completed homes, with the family of the occupants in the photo, to be forwarded immediately to Men of Vision.

In addition to the homes and churches that we are rebuilding, Men of Vision will be assisting the general population in whatever way we can, with a continued focus on reconstruction. We are working with an engineer, Dr. Keith Braveboy, who has been coordinating relief and rebuilding efforts in a most humanitarian and systematic manner. Dr. Braveboy has provided lists of materials that would be of huge assistance in their efforts to obtain minimal shelters for their people.

Status:

Hurricane Ivan hit the island at 3 PM and battered the island for a full twelve hours until 3 AM. Winds were clocked at 165 MPH or 265 KPH. When light dawned the next day, people emerged to a scene of total devastation of houses, facilities, and plant life.

Entire forests were flattened.

Ninety per cent (90%) of the homes on the island were damaged or destroyed.

The nutmeg orchards, which comprise the largest crop and export of Grenada, were destroyed and will have to be replanted. A nutmeg tree takes eight years to start bearing fruit and twelve years to be commercially viable.

Virtually all of the resorts and hotels were completely destroyed. Most were at sea level, and the storm surge that accompanied the hurricane overwhelmed the waterfront areas, including the resorts and the downtown area of St. Georges.

Two churches that we are assisting were badly damaged.

The situation is desperate on the island, with no electricity outside of a few generators, and time estimates for the resumption of power range from February, 2005 to later next year. Power lines and poles were badly damaged, with many homes we looked at draped with thick bundles of electrical and telephone wires that have collapsed. Most poles have been snapped off.

There is limited water supply and there are concerns about the quality of water. Some areas are using street taps for all their needs regardless of the quality of the water. Bottled, purified or filtered water is badly needed.

Multitudes are living in crowded and often primitive conditions. Many are housed temporarily with other family members, with others still finding shelter in government buildings, gymnasiums, etc. Some have erected makeshift shelters from the debris of their former homes and are simply waiting for some form of aid. Tarpaulins are draped over damaged or missing roofs, but with heavy rains at this season, it is impossible for people stay dry or to keep their remaining possessions from getting damp.

While thirty-nine people were killed during the hurricane, the death rate for September and October was up over 6 times the normal rate from the previous year. More people died in those two months than in the previous twelve months. Many elderly, sick and injured have simply given up the will to live. Many realize that they will never have another home, will never be in their usual family and community situation again.

Food is available both for purchase in stores and by donated items that have been shipped in, mostly from Trinidad.

The curfew remains in effect from Midnight to 6am every day.

Most roads are now cleared of debris and trees, enabling utility and construction crews to move about the island with relative ease.

At each home, I asked the same question: "Where were you during the storm?" In most cases, the people had nowhere to go, and simply hid under their houses or huddled in rooms with no windows to prevent being sprayed by broken glass. Many were forced to flee their houses as they blew apart, and made their way to neighboring homes through 165 MPH winds and flying debris and metal roofing pieces.

One lady, Yvette Brown, told of her harrowing experience. She and her adult daughter were seeking shelter in their simple home. When the home blew apart, she seized a piece of plywood and tried to hide under it for protection from flying debris and glass. The high wind caught the plywood to which she was clinging and flung her into the air like a kite. As she flew through the air, she saw that she was approaching a nearby power line and reached out and grabbed it, letting go of the plywood that would have carried her away to almost certain death. She realized that she had not been electrocuted by the power line, and somehow made her way down to the ground and found her daughter trapped under the wreckage of their former house. While initial vital signs were not good, this Christian lady insists that God heard her prayers and spared her daughter serious injury.

Another woman whose house was completely destroyed had lost her two sons, 14 and 17 years old to a freak wave that swept them out to sea while swimming this past January of 2004.

It was impossible to be there in that 110 degree heat and high humidity, to see the suffering and trauma that people were living with, and not be profoundly affected. Their stories and their hope for better things ahead have inspired us to do all we can, and to tell their stories in the hope that you will join with us in your giving and your support. Please do what you can.

Future Needs:

• Medical Supplies

• Lumber

• Plywood

• Boxes of nails

• Rolls of plastic

• Corrogated metal roofing

• Bags of Portland Cement

• Carpentry tools, saws, hammers, etc.

• Battery powered Flashlights

• Batteries

• (7) Generators, 5kW

Followup:

Ken Ardiel has just returned from the island of Grenada, which was 90% damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ivan last September, and which has been the focus of a major Men of Vision fundraising and rebuilding program for the past several months since his first visit in November, 2004. He filed this followup:

Over the past few months we have been making the need known regarding the plight of a number of people in Grenada whose homes were either destroyed or heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan. The difficulty facing these people was that because of the total devastation on the island, there were no materials available to begin the rebuilding process.

As a result, our initial intent was to purchase the building materials in the United States and have them shipped to Grenada and distributed to qualified builders for reconstruction of the homes there. It became apparent over time that this was indeed a difficult task, both in terms of purchasing the various materials in the quantities required, but in the packing and shipping of the materials to Grenada and the storage and distribution of the materials to the affected homes on the island. The ocean shipping alone was estimated to be in the range of US$40,000!

By March the situation had changed in Grenada in several ways:

Power was restored to most areas of the island, eliminating the necessity for generators for power; General services such as telephones and water were restored, and roads were fully cleared, allowing for deliveries to remote areas; Most importantly, the flow of building materials to the island was finally sufficient to meet the needs of the rebuilding program, and not just for the rebuilding of the resorts and other commercial enterprises that initially consumed the materials arriving on the island.

As a result, Men of Vision made the decision to purchase the materials locally from building supply companies to eliminate further delays, as well as the cost and logistics of importing and managing our own inventories. Requests for quotes for materials were sent to two major building supply stores in St. Georges, the capitol and largest city. One was significantly lower than the other across the board, and further gave a significant discount in recognition of the charitable nature of our work there. We forwarded funds to them to be debited as materials were released for the construction.

I flew down last week, arriving on the evening of Wednesday, May 4th. I was met there by Felix Dixon, a pastor and building contractor from Trinidad whose burden for those in need in Grenada led him to be one of the first to contact and travel to Grenada last fall. He assisted us in our initial assessments of each home and continues to be a valued part of the work there. I was also met by Andy Francis, an exceptional young man who has been employed as a tour guide in St. Georges and who will be working full time for Men of Vision as our on site manager for the project. Andy is responsible for pre-building site inspections, meeting with contractors for each and every home, providing purchase orders for materials required and arranging transport of the materials to the building site. His selfless approach to the needs and challenges there has been refreshing.

For the next three days after my arrival, we made our credit arrangements with the building supply, transferred additional funds, established our controls and procedures, and most importantly, began the release of materials to those in need. During my brief time there, we released materials for three homes, as well as Woburn Church, pastored by Brother Thomas Baker.

The first home to receive materials was that of Bro. Thomas and Sister Augustine Mitchell. You may recall that in January 2004 they lost two of their sons, aged 17 and 14, to a freak wave that overcame them and washed them out to sea. Added to that tragedy was the total destruction of their hillside home by Hurricane Ivan. We transported a 16' flat deck truck loaded with materials to the site and assisted in carrying part of the materials to a secure location part way up the mountainside.

I can't describe adequately the feeling that accompanied the delivery of the materials or the expressions of gratitude from the Mitchells to those who so generously gave that they could be in their new home.

The work will continue over the next few weeks as each of the homes are rebuilt and we will continue to receive reports and photos from Andy Francis that we will share with you on our web site.

To each of the recipients, I told the stories of the selfless giving that had made our work there possible: Families making group decisions to forgo the giving of gifts so that the funds intended for those gifts could be utilized to assist Grenada. Of family vacations cancelled or delayed in order to assist. I can only tell you that as the rainy season approaches and each of the homes are rebuilt prior to its arrival, your kind assistance is continuing to meet the need. God bless you for your burden and giving.