AHAH Monthly Program Update - The Bahamas (February 2021)

THE BAHAMAS HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE FEBRUARY 2021

TOTAL PROGRAM IMPACT

2,303 561

LIVES IMPACTED

VOLUNTEERS

9,007

VOLUNTEER DAYS

210

JOBS COMPLETED

Current Situation Our second cohort of DM12 volunteers arrived in Marsh Harbour last month and have hit the ground running; continuing with the resilient roofing program and preparing the foundations for the Convent rebuild project at Every Child Counts School (ECC) now that demolition and excavation are complete. Elsewhere at ECC, good progress is being made at Sochet Hall where volunteers are installing drywall and insulation, while local contractors focus on the plumbing and electrics.

This month also marks the opening of our second program in the Bahamas!

Located in Dundas Town, our staff team has been busy setting up the base of operations and preparing for the arrival of a new cohort of DM12 volunteers on 6 February. More to come on this next month!

Resilient Roof Repair & Rebuild Program At least 13,000 homes in the Bahamas were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Dorian, and support with roof repairs remains one of the biggest unmet needs. Our roofing program aims to help address this need, and to increase the resiliency of homes by reinforcing the roofing structures and installing specialist hurricane clips to resist uplift forces. We’re delighted to have completed six roofs to date, and although our current capacity dictates that we can work on just two roofs at a time, this number will increase once the work at ECC is complete, and with the launch of our second program.

With so many homes requiring support, our Program Development Team has developed and implemented a new home selection process to help us prioritize those with the greatest needs. This process involves two stages of homeowner assessment, a technical assessment and a Memorandum of Understanding for each home. Once a roof is repaired, and the home is dried in, our team carries out a rigorous process of mold sanitation to establish a safe and healthy living environment Photos: (top) AHAH staff building the new Dundas Town operations base (left) a house undergoing roof repairs.

Learn about our programs at

allhandsandhearts.org

Disaster Profile In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 storm in The Bahamas with wind speeds in excess of 185 mph, lashing the Bahamian islands of Great Abaco (pop. ~17,200) and Grand Bahama (pop. ~51,000). After striking The Bahamas, Dorian’s travelling speed slowed to 1 mph over Grand Bahama, prolonging the island’s exposure to life-threatening storm surge of 18-23 feet above normal tide levels. Over 76,000 people have been affected and 10,000 children displaced from schools. Dorian is the strongest hurricane on record for The Bahamas and tied a record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall.

Our Work During the first six months, our focus was on response capacity in some of the hardest-hit areas. After a six month COVID-19 suspension, our long-term recovery program is now targeting reconstruction in schools and critical community infrastructure, while continuing to work on roofs, mucking and gutting, debris removal and mold sanitation within homes. With immense support from our local and global partners, we’re committed to performing continuous work in The Bahamas through to the summer.

About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters.

We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row. This year only seven percent of rated non-profits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.

Photos: (top) AHAH staff member at the new Dundas Town program (middle) AHAH base of operations, (bottom) volunteers installing insulation.

Our Partners in The Bahamas

info@allhandsandhearts.org