Some Special people in Dominica

A lot of people have been commending ITNAC for the great work that is being done in Dominica in bringing relief to the persons affected by Hurricane Maria, but it is important to note that we could not do this on our own. I would like to dedicate this blog to some special people who have played an integral role in enabling us to serve effectively in Dominica:

Father Charles Martin

When members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force approached Father Charles about providing accommodation for ITNAC team members, he willingly agreed although he had never heard about our organization before. He made the parish hall available to us for as long as we wanted to stay, and graciously allowed us to use his stove to heat up water when we didn't have electricity to boil our own. He has been a wonderful host to the ITNAC team, and we are truly grateful for him providing a base we can call home in Dominica.

Firemen ensuring our water tank at Goodwill Parish Hall is full

Dalton Paul

Dalton was on his way home when the pastor of his church asked him to drop our medical team to a nearby church to do a medical clinic. His conscience did not allow him to leave them there without a ride home, so he also ensured that they got home safely. He has been driving our team around ever since, not expecting anything in return. His pastor was so generous to allow us the use of his church bus, so we could easily get to all the villages we need to throughout Dominica. Dalton is not only our driver - he is an excellent resource person who seems to know everyone in Dominica. He is also not hesitant to get involved, especially when manpower is needed. He is the kind of person who will walk up 5 flights of stairs with you to make sure that you find the right room when you are not familiar with the venue for a meeting, and will take money from his own pocket to put diesel in the vehicle and only tell you when you ask him how he got fuel. 

Dalton helping to offload supplies

Adwina Magloire

Granny, as we affectionately call her, met one of the team members who had come on the first trip to Dominica to do medical relief. Upon hearing about what our group was doing for her people, and realizing that our team was surviving on tinned food and crix, Granny started providing a hot meal daily for us, refusing to take anything in return. She said it was the least she could do for us, for all that we were doing to help the people of Dominica. When resumption of her church commitments no longer enabled her to cook for us, she provided us with a table top stove so we could prepare our own meals. She also keeps us supplied with fresh bread from the bakery every morning.

Granny all dressed up for Creole Day

The Trinidad and Tobago Regiment 

Our army was deployed the day after hurricane Maria hit Dominica. They were tasked with the responsibility of rescuing Trinidadians living there who were in distress, helping to restore order, and also assisting in recovery efforts. Because our storage was located on the same facility as their base, they soon found themselves serving in another role - as ITNAC volunteers. Since the majority of our team members are female, the soldiers stepped in when they saw that we needed help in loading or unloading boxes, erecting tarpaulin to shade us from working in the blistering sun, ensuring that our generator was functioning properly, moving pallets to make more room for storage, and making strategic alliances to ensure we continued to receive favor from the "powers that be" after they left. One of our most regular helpers sent this message when he was being redeployed back to Trinidad:
"May God continue to richly bless and keep you and family. Keep doing the great job you all are doing. I really admired the sacrifice you all make and it was an honor working alongside you guys" The army also made regular patrols to ensure that we felt safe, especially during the early weeks following the hurricane, and ensured we were fed when we worked late at the base. We are truly grateful for their partnership.

Measuring dimensions of a house we identified as needing a
new roof - we sourced the material and they provided the labour

Elena

When her cousin came with ITNAC to serve as a doctor and chose to stay with the team at parish hall instead of at her house, Elena brought food for the entire team on more than one occasion. After seeing what ITNAC was doing, she not only volunteered her time serving, but also got her students from the community college to volunteer as well, building our team of local volunteers! She was also instrumental in introducing us to Benton, who assisted us by pumping diesel for our generator weekly so we could have electricity at Parish hall. Despite working long hours, he would make the extra effort to perform this task, even if it meant coming after midnight.

All hands on deck!

Judy

Judy is another faithful volunteer who has willingly given of her time to help with the sorting and packing that is necessary everytime we get new supplies, or when relief needs to be sent out to different communities. Judy worked as a supervisor in a grocery before hurricane Maria, but lost her job after the grocery closed down due to the looting. Instead of being idle, Judy has bravely joined the ITNAC team of volunteers to help bring relief to her fellow Dominicans. On more than one occasion she has fed us, and her dedication to the task at hand serves as an encouragement to us all.

Judy taking a break with Trinidadian ITNAC volunteers

Ana

I don't know the story of how Ana got connected to ITNAC, but I do know that she has been another invaluable asset to our team in Dominica. She lives in Portsmouth, which is more than an hour's drive away from Roseau, yet she makes the effort to come down and help us whenever she is able. She even used her skills as an aesthetician to give facials and massages to team members during one of our down days. She has been integral in securing storage and volunteers to help with managing relief that is shipped into the port at Portsmouth.

Ana being a link in the toilet paper chain :)

Suzette

Suzette is Trinidadian by birth and Dominican by marriage. She reached out to ITNAC for help for the persons in her community of Trafalgar who were in need of relief supplies. Their community had been cut off by mudslides after Maria, so aid was now starting to trickle in. After dropping literally a ton of relief supplies (we filled a one ton truck!) she was so grateful that she invited us to a river lime the following weekend. She prepared a sumptuous meal for us, which included soup, barbecue and sweetbread! We also got to bathe in the river, and in the sulphur baths free of charge thanks to her husband's connections.

She enjoyed feeding us :)

Delroy

Delroy is another valuable ministry partner who uses his contacts to help us accomplish our objectives. Whether it is a truck to transport supplies, or persons to pick up garbage, he has a great network that he was not afraid to share with us. He brought Antoine onto the team, who spent an entire day (from 9am until after 7pm) loading, transporting and unloading bricks using his truck, without even pausing for lunch. Delroy also provides manpower when we need it to move heavy boxes, and he also helps with the packing.

Antoine securing the load of blocks

Customs and port officials

There are persons with high offices who made decisions which complicated the process of us getting our goods from the boats to our storage area. However, after seeing the work that ITNAC does in distributing relief to the persons who need it the most, we received the full co-operation of customs and port officials to enable us to retrieve our items with as little stress as possible. They worked tirelessly with us, sometimes staying late after their official work hours were over, to ensure that all goods consigned to us were delivered.

With one of our faithful forklift drivers

The Abraham family
Desrie attended my church in St. Augustine while she was a student in Trinidad, and we reconnected on this mission to Dominica. She refused to let me spend all my time in Dominica doing relief work, so she and her family treated us to a day out to the beach at Scott's Head - the further point south of the island. Then on another occasion she took us to Trafalgar waterfall. She ensured that we were well fed on both occasions. Even though I am no longer there, she continues to take team members to experience the beauty of the nature island. Such a gracious and loving family!

After our day trip to Scott's Head 

There are probably other names that I neglected to mention, but it is not because their contribution was not significant. Every single meal that was provided, every kindness that was shown, every ride and internet connection that was freely given was deeply appreciated, and made it a joy for us to continue to serve in Dominica.