The Catholic Church of the Bahamas doing all they can for hurricane victims

Evacuees from Abaco at a shelter in Nassau. 

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Bahamas: Catholic Church trying to meet basic needs of survivors

Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau told Vatican News that his archdiocese is trying to meet the immediate needs of the evacuees as well as those who have remained behind in the affected islands after Hurricane Dorian.

By Robin Gomes

Hurricane Dorian, a devastating category-5 storm, left a trail of death and destruction in the Bahamas, after battering the north-western islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco for more than 24 hours on 1 September. 

According to official estimates, at least 50 people have died and around 70,000 have been affected.  Thousands of hurricane survivors are being evacuated to New Providence, which includes the capital, Nassau.  Most of them have little or no idea of how or where to begin to rebuild their lives. 

Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau on Monday visited some of the affected areas in Grand Bahama and Abaco. After Nassau, the Grand Bahama and Abaco islands have the largest concentration of the population of the Bahamas, and that’s what “makes the problem so difficult, so immense”, the archbishop said.

Listen to Archbishop Patrick Pinder

While most of the roads have been cleared, Archbishop Pinder said, they still have to clear the rubble and them begin the arduous and expensive process of rebuilding.

He said that the school of the archdiocese in Marsh Harbour in Abaco has been destroyed by the hurricane. Many of the people in the island have been evacuated and many are being sheltered in New Providence, where the national capital, Nassau, is. 

Basic needs

Students of the schools of the archdiocese in Nassau, along with their teachers, are providing basic needs to the evacuees, such as housing and food

A big task, according to the archbishop, is providing housing for those people who have stayed back in Grand Bahama and Abaco islands.  One of the parishes there is providing regular meals for the affected people, making sure their basic needs are met. 

Overseas response

Apart from catering to the material needs, the archbishop said, the people also need spiritual, emotional and psychological support for all they are going through, many of whom have lost their homes and all their possessions altogether.  So, meeting the very basic needs of the people is what the Catholic Church is working on at the moment.

In this task, Catholics overseas, Archbishop Pinder said, are giving a hand. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is assessing the situation on the ground.  The Knights of Columbus, the Archdioceses of Miami, Washington DC and many others have responded to the appeal Archbishop Pinder made in a video message on the website of the archdiocese.

Catholic Relief Services on the job with Dorian relief for the Bahamas

Donate to Help Survivors of Hurricane Dorian

Donate to Help Families in The Bahamas

Hurricane Dorian slams into The Bahamas. Your help brings relief.

After 36 hours of battering the island, Hurricane Dorian has left families homeless and virtually destroyed the land. Rains and flooding continue to affect relief efforts and communication is limited.

Your gift makes a difference today in the Caribbean.

Catholic Relief Services—along with local partners—is working quickly to assess immediate needs. Donations help bring relief, in the form of food, emergency shelter, and safe water, to affected families.

Families affected by Hurricane Dorian urgently need your help. Please fill out the donation form to make a much-needed gift.

Would you like to support long-term and help communities be prepared for natural disaster like these? Give a recurring donation.

He just won't go away; Dorian expected to remain a hurricane through next weekend

Please remember to pray for all the hurricane victims in the Bahamas and as we do, be prepared to lend a helping hand.

It just seems like a good night to share my reflections and thoughts

The Sunday night before Labor Day; tons and tons of thoughts on my mind.  First of all I can't get my mind off of what has become a massive hurricane.  Although this will not impact us in south Louisiana, Hurricane Dorian is devastating many of the Bahama islands and is still a source of great concern for Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas.  For us, personally, we will be trying to get to North Carolina come Wednesday or Thursday so we need to be incredibly weather aware these next few days.

Labor Day for me and so many others we were so close to was all about the MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon in Las Vegas.  Because of the fund raising of our organization, the Louisiana Jaycees, Wendy and I would find ourselves in Las Vegas for Labor Day often.  One year, I did a different trip and spent time in other parts of Nevada.  Of course I loved and respected the Telethon and everything Jerry Lewis did for MDA.  Over time, that just all seemed to go away and now, with his passing, there does not appear to be any nationally televised fundraiser.  Yet, the MDA Telethon is a source of great memories for me and my introduction to the state of Nevada and Las Vegas.

Labor Day also was the last picnic of the summer when I was a child at my aunt & uncles place.  This now seems like a million years ago.  When the picnic was over and all went home we had a sense of no more summer and school was here in full.  One final Labor Day memory; after we moved to Abita Springs I recall fondly the big Labor Day pig roast and party hosted by neighbors right across the street in this idyllic little subdivision in the country.  And this too is another fond memory of Labor Day's past.

Labor Day weekend means we finally have made it to September and that can be a good thing.  Now make no mistake, September in southern Louisiana really does mean hot.  We will not see relief from summer heat doldrums until probably late October.  It truly is not fall or autumn at all during the 9th month of the year.  But, at least we are headed in the right direction.  September does mean football and at all levels.  The high school games began the other night and college football returned yesterday with both LSU and Tulane securing big time opening season victories.  The New Orleans Saints have completed the pre-season and opening game is just a week away.  Football will be on my TV often throughout these next 5-6 months.  We actually have high hopes for both LSU and the Saints.

September brings more activity at the Church and for me that means the return of an adult Bible study program.  Starting next Tuesday and through December we will undertake a 10 week study of the letter of James.  Now we began doing this at St. Jane about 4 years ago and have covered a lot and the Bible study just keeps growing.  As of this very evening I understand we have 85 adults signed up an paid up!  That is incredibly rewarding that our adults or that interested in following the Bible that they get involved in these kind of numbers.  September also brings a program of CPT for deacon candidates so two of them are participating with me at Rayburn Correctional.  They both have already experienced the first night of the program and got to witness the Baptism of one of the adult men currently incarcerated at Rayburn.  Over the next few months these men will have an opportunity to interact with the inmate parishioners and learn more about the importance and presence of prison ministry.

Finally, the abitadeacon has finally decided that enough is enough and I will pursue a full right knee replacement. The pain was so bad last week that I actually had to use a cane to get through Mass and a couple of days at work.  My doctor and I have decided to treat the acute pain now with cortisone and ice and that will delay the knee replacement until December 2nd.  Date is set.  I will get a full cardiac workup before the procedure and do a couple of weeks of exercise the month before.  If you know me at all, it took everything I got, mentally and spiritually, to decide it is time to do this.  So as this gets closer, you all will be hearing my progress toward full knee replacement.

So tonight, incredibly relaxed in my home on a pretty nice Sunday night in late summer and await Labor Day and the start of our next drive to North Carolina.  I am keeping at least one wary eye on Hurricane Dorian and holding all impacted folks in my prayers, especially tonight the good folks of the Bahamas.

Enjoy your Labor Day and always remember, summer is almost over; thanks be to God!

Pray for the people of the Bahamas, Florida and points north

Hurricane Dorian now one of the strongest Atlantic Hurricane's ever: