**UPDATE**

Our local team on the ground in Jamaica has identified roofing repairs as the number one emergency, with an estimated 140,000 roofs destroyed. We will set an initial goal of 100 roofs rebuilt for the St. Ann community, where my family is from, and chronicle the progress on JamaicaNation.org. So far, we have identified 25 homes in need of immediate assistance, but we can’t do it without you!

Priory, St Ann. An idyllic seaside community, nestled on the north coast of Jamaica. If you have ever landed in Montego Bay and taken transport to your all-inclusive resort destination in Ocho Rios, then you certainly have passed through. You may have seen children waving at the luxury tourist coaches; children harboring one of the most well-kept secrets in town: when you make your way through the mangrove bushes by the sea, you are greeted by a world-class beach that rivals and – some may argue exceed – the ones at the resort. It is crystal clear water where the little silver fish come to frolic by the shore, and children try in vain to catch them with their hands; the slippery, elusive things. It is a water distant from the sea table, where no matter your age or size, you can walk on even sand all the way “up to your neck” and then swim or wander back to shore.

Priory is also home to the heights, where during the long summer months children could explore the village up in the hills, with a tight network of mothers looking out for you out of the corners of their eyes. You were raised by the village and taught to be respectful of elders, despite grown ups embracing the mischief makers. It is a place that Columbus declared “God smiled upon,” with abundant fruit trees and floral plants of every bearing, bountifully on display and traded generously from home to home. It is where the farming community in the hills, with nothing but a plot of land and a shanty, greet you with a weather worn smile and offering when you pass through their tidy, well-kept homestead.

Then on Tuesday, October 28, Hurricane Melissa tore through the island without discretion. Three hours of 185 mph wind gusts hung over the area. One local official described the scene as “the equivalent of a meteorological nuclear bomb.” In the aftermath, families with children and the elderly are sleeping in the dark with open roofs, 80% of which were damaged or destroyed. Children are hungry. Water is scarce. Up in the hills in the farming communities, assistance has not arrived, and from previous experiences, whatever scant aid that reaches them will barely scratch the surface for these historically underserved communities. The task of rebuilding will be daunting. For a resilient people, spirits are shaken but not broken.

Please contribute whatever you can to help. The destruction is still very much present, particularly in the typically poorer communities. Proceeds raised will be used to acquire roofing and building materials (zinc sheets, lumber and rafters, fasteners, waterproofing materials) and secure skilled labor from local builders and volunteers. We will partner with local community leaders, municipal offices and churches to facilitate an equitable process for distribution of proceeds to those most severely impacted, living under open roofs and with limited means for recovery.

Thank you for your support and for standing with Jamaica during these challenging times.

Gary Bembridge

President

JamaicaNation.org

www.jamaicanation.org