Monthly Program Update - Bahamas (November 2019)

BAHAMAS HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE NOVEMBER 2019

TOTAL PROGRAM IMPACT

628 55 724 8

STUDENTS IMPACTED

VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEER DAYS

CLASSROOMS IN PROGRESS

Current Situation We are a month into the All Hands and Hearts Bahamas Response Program! Our teams are working tirelessly to get schools back up and running in Marsh Harbour. More than fifty volunteers from eight countries have joined us so far, and their impact within the community is already palpable.

Within two minutes of driving up the main road towards Marsh Harbour, purple shirts are visible and hard at work at the St. Francis de Sales High School. The facility has been fully mucked and gutted and the roof outfitted with temporary repairs. As our current base of operations, the school has also become a gathering place for community events, including a recent Halloween celebration (pictured above).

Farther into town, we’re also making quick progress at Every Child Counts, a school that serves children with developmental disabilities.

Three of five school buildings have been fully mucked and gutted, with preparation in progress to begin reconstruction.

You can check out the powerful story of the community’s ongoing transformation here.

Community Voices “Sometimes, I feel weakness. When I’m laying down, I say, When is my hope coming? Where can I find one’s shelter? Or one room to live in?

As I’m working with them, time by time, we’ve come together… now we’ve joined together, like family. God is working, I could say that. He don’t want me to stay alone. He gave me somebody.”

Tiaga, Bahamian local

Learn about us at:

allhandsandhearts.org

Disaster Profile On September 1st, Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a category 5 hurricane in The Bahamas with wind speeds in excess of 185mph, 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 With immense support from our local and global partners, we are fulfilling our mission to arrive early and staying late in The Bahamas. We are committed to performing continuous work for the next two years, with an immediate focus on response capacity in some of the hardest-hit areas. Our long-term recovery program will target reconstruction in schools and critical community infrastructure (e.g. health clinics).

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 six years in a row and a Perfect 100. Less than one percent of rated non-profits have received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.

Our Partners in the Bahamas

info@allhandsandhearts.org (508) 758-8211