It was late Saturday night when I received an email followed by a text message Sunday morning saying that I had been accepted to become part of the second volunteer mission cruise to Freeport, Grand Bahama. If I was to go, I needed to confirm immediately and show up at The Port of West Palm Beach between 2 and 4 PM that day.

I was not completely sold on the idea when a very special friend of mine suggested I should apply. I did not anticipate being selected because the mission was looking for individuals with medical backgrounds, experience in construction or had volunteered in disaster areas before.

Anyhow, Sunday morning, I decided to go.

My decision was mainly driven by curiosity. I wanted to see first-hand the devastation a storm like Dorian had caused. I did not just want to see it the way it was portrayed on the news or social media, I wanted to see with my own eyes. I wanted to meet the people affected, and maybe ponder what could have happened to South Florida if we would have been hit by Dorian. I read on a twitter post earlier that week, what a Bahamian lady said; she thanked God Florida was spared - otherwise, who would have come to help the people in the Bahamas?

Sunday afternoon, I grabbed my passport, a backpack with essentials, signed my waivers and rushed to board the ship along with the other 300 volunteers.

The ship’s name is “Grand Celebration”. An old ship purchased from another Cruise Line that apparently did not have working stabilizers; so, the journey was a little bit… rocky. Warning: If you tend to get seasick, this 6-hour voyage may not be for you.

After we set sail, a main assembly was held at 9 PM. Every volunteer had to be present during this mandatory meeting in order to be assigned to a group. Each group was led by a “captain”. Most of these captains were quite young, and a couple of them even (outside of disaster relief coordination) only had real experience making coffee as they confessed during introductions. They did not possess any special skills other than the willingness to commit their time to help people in need.

These were the following groups:

• Dog Rescue and Animal Shelter Rebuild
• Meals by Chef Julien Gremaud
• Communications and Intel (All through WhatsApp Groups)
• Logistics and Supplies (The ship was completely full, a barge had to follow the ship with the excess supplies collected during the week).
• Construction (Plumbers, Electricians, Contractors, etc.)
• Clean Up Crew
• Medical (Doctors, Nurses, EMTs)
• Fire Stations Rebuild (West Palm Beach Fire Department)
• Children’s Home Rebuild
• Church Rebuild

Having no medical background or experience in construction I was feeling like a stray dog, so I was assigned to the Big Dog Ranch Rescue team. Their objective was to gather stray dogs AND repair the Grand Bahama Humane Society building. The building had been damaged by 5 feet of water during the storm surge flooding. Mold had already started to take over.

Walls needed to be taken down and replaced with new sheets of drywall. Before the construction team could do their job, the clean-up crew (which I was part of), had to tear down walls and clean up the mess. The smell was extremely bad, the heat unbearable and there was debris everywhere. We spent two days breaking down sheetrock walls, hauling trash in wheelbarrows, sweeping floors, but fifteen people got the job done in two days without any complaints. We were fed with meals from World Central Kitchen, that apparently made their way to all the areas where volunteers were showing up.

One thing to remember is that Bahamians are proud people. Even though surrounded by destruction, the locals were carrying on, hungry, tired, demoralized but kept their spirits up because they were not alone. Hundreds of strangers from South Florida, their closest neighbors, showed up without expecting anything in return. The hurricane did not discriminate; humble people, business owners, professionals, old and young, people lost EVERYTHING. Some families, who did not evacuate, lost their lives. In the eastern part of the island, more bodies are still being found. Strict protocol prohibits volunteers to take and distribute any pictures of the affected victims. Regardless some people took photos and shared them through WhatsApp. Even though I did not visit the worst areas, I heard first-hand stories of what others, who ventured deep in the island, witnessed. Disaster can hit anyone. The devastation was shocking. Now it’s time to rebuild.

Both nights the meals crew and members from other volunteer teams put on a movie night in Independence Park that was open to local families as a brief respite from their hardships. Because there is still no school, the idea was to let the children enjoy something fun. Food, drinks, cookies and popcorn were distributed. The aim was to give everyone some sense of normal and to share something fun with their friends and neighbors. “Finding Nemo” was shown the first night; “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” the second. Very appropriate.

The people I met during this trip were normal people. They all had different backgrounds and professions, but they did have one thing in common, they cared enough to take a pause from their day-to-day to do something good for others.

When a cruise is filled with supplies and hundreds of volunteers who work together orderly and fast, the results are buildings fixed, people fed, wounds tended, supplies delivered, but the true intention of this mission was bigger and more meaningful than just some quick repairs and band-aids... the real intention of this endeavor was to send out a message of hope. The message that we sent is that people care. When one person cares, others follow, like a ripple effect. In this case, after the storm surge resided, a surge of compassion arrived from another shore, bringing help, smiles and hope to those who lost everything even though it will take a few years to rebuild their island

I am very grateful for the From Our Hearts program. It allowed me to donate my time to help people in need and perhaps inspire others to do the same. I really hope that with every hour, product and dollar donated the message of hope carries on and inspires other, who may not be as involved to at least consider it.

There are still many people in the remote areas of the island who do not have access to supplies and have no electricity. Water is still the most needed resource. There are still many buildings in need of repair.

If you would like to get involved in helping Grand Bahama, visit the Website: https://www.bahamasreliefcruise.org/ - they are currently discussing a third and fourth mission.

Facts about Hurricane Dorian:

• Strongest recorded storm to hit the Bahamas.
• The strongest Atlantic hurricane on record.
• It sat 3 days in the Bahamas with Cat-5 hurricane winds.

Facts about the Bahamas Relief Cruise:

• In a matter of days, a few non-profit organizations based in Palm Beach mobilized and reached out to the Paradise Island privately owned cruise line asking them to use their ship to carry donations and supplies to the Bahamas. The cruise line said “yes”, but they would have to garner enough volunteers to distribute the supplies and work the logistics.
• Goods collected, carried, and distributed by our team:

1. 30,000 pounds of water

2. 275,000 pounds of canned and dry food

3. 150,000 pounds of household supplies

4. 50,000 pounds of construction materials

Media Coverage of the second mission:

https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/cruise-ship-returns...

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/bahamas-pa...

Some of the Non-Profit Organizations that Participated:

• Big Dog Ranch Rescue - https://bdrr.org/
• Sheep Dog - https://sheepdogia.org/