Hello Family,

Thank you for the care, connection and concern for the Kindred community as we weathered the strongest hurricane to hit Jamaica. Ever.

Melissa spent days gathering strength before making landfall, as a powerful category 5 hurricane. Many roofs, windows and walls proved inadequate in the face of 130 miles/hr winds. I’m grateful she only took bits and pieces of my roof—forced us to get creative with buckets and bath mats and towels to manage the deluge.

When the winds receded late Tuesday night, we fell into bed, exhausted—only to be awakened at 3 a.m. by a loud popping sound, followed by a burning smell. Fluctuating power surges, exacerbated by the downed power lines killed multiple appliances before we could turn off the breaker. So now we are without electricity—for God knows how long.

But our story isn’t unique at the moment—77 percent of the island is without power. Even more people are without cellphone service.

At the farm, no electricity means limited water. We collect rainwater—then pump and filter it, so our water supply is now compromised.

in the wider Kindred community, many neighbors lost the roof to their kitchen, or their bedroom—some lost the entire roof, and subsequently, nearly all their belongings. One house had a giant landslide in back of it—one that cracked the house from floor to ceiling. Two of those homes without roofs have infants living in them—imagine caring for a baby, with no roof overhead and all your belongings soaked all the way through.

At present, we cannot yet do a thorough accounting of our ask—please bear with us while we take steps to make a comprehensive assessment of our needs. All we can say is that we will need all the help we can get in order to rebuild. We are still discovering machines that no longer work after the power surges.

Many people lost more our immediate community, especially those on the Western side of the island—cars, entire homes—some lost their lives.

Still, what happened to our animals remains one of the saddest part of our story. The wind took both the goat pens and the chicken coop—just lifted the roofs collapsed them. Many of the goats and chickens died with nothing between their small bodies and Melissa’s might.

She leveled crops as well. A many of our plants uprooted and/or laid flat. Bananas. Yams. Peas. Carrots. Everything damaged or dead. Many of our beautiful old trees were downed by the ill winds. 

But here, at Kindred, we remain alive and without injury—for that we are truly grateful.

We need your support to rebuild. Whatever you can spare, we ask you to share with our beloved community. A dime, a dollar, every penny donated will put to good use, replacing what was lost, and maybe, lessening the anguish of this man-made catastrophe on those among us least responsible.

Menddigap Inc is a 501c3 foundation, created to foster connection and community for Black and Brown folks, with specific emphasis on relationships between the most marginalized among us. We do work around land stewarding, and provide safe space for queer folks, rural folks, immigrants, Black people in exile, activist, artists to commune with each other and the 70 acres of land in which our community homestead, Kindred on the Rock sits. Our funding primarily funds work at Kindred. In addition to a large international visiting community, we serve a small rural village in the hills of St. Catherine, helping residents cover the cost of tuition, groceries, health care and much more, by providing steady employment, as well as grants to community meme era who may need it.