- Nathaniel stewart
Everton Powell, his son Rayon, daughter Brianna and niece Yeyefene stand in front of the home being built for them under the Yard Project scheme. Also in the picture at right is Winston Sanderson, contractor for the project.
Keisha Shakespeare, Freelance Writer
SOMETIMES THE worst things in life can turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Take the small fishing village of Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, for example.
Pummelled during the passage of Hurricane Ivan last September 10 and 11, the community of between 8,000 and 10,000 people was one of the worst affected in the island. Houses were damaged or completely destroyed, leaving scores of people homeless; trees and powerlines uprooted; and fishing boats and equipment destroyed, sidelining many of the approximately 1,800 people who depend on fishing for a living.
In stepped Dr. Dexter Gordon, a professor in the Department of Communications Studies at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington. Born in Bay Bottom, Old Harbour Bay, Dr. Gordon left Jamaica in 1989 to study at Wheaton College in Illinois, but his heart remained in this seaside community. Within days of the passage of the hurricane, Dr. Gordon, who is also director of African American studies at the university, was on one of the first flights into the island to assess the damage of his hometown.
What he saw left him heartbroken but determined to help his stricken community. Returning to Tacoma, located in the Pacific Northwest corner of the U.S., he mobilised Jamaicans living in the U.S. and Canada to form Yard Project to assist in the rebuilding process.
"This notion of yard has the sociological connotation of the tenement yard that is mimicking the old rural village of people living in an open area without barriers or division," he said, explaining the sentiment behind the name of the project.
REBUILD AND TRANSFORM
OLD HARBOUR BAY
Yard Project, which has the ambitious aim of rebuilding houses for some of those affected by Hurricane Ivan and transforming the town, began with 21 people, and has ballooned to 300 volunteers living in Jamaica, North America and other parts of the world. The group includes 12 of Dr. Gordon's 15 siblings. Andrew Gordon, the 12th child in the Gordon clan, is the local coordinator, while sisters Geneta and Claudia Gordon who
still live in Old Harbour Bay, oversee the day-to-day running of the project.
Andrew Gordon said he joined his brother in this venture because his family has always initiated and participated in community activities.
"Once one family member is involved in a project then all of us will support it. I also work on this project because I feel good knowing that I am doing something that will benefit others who are not as fortunate as I am," said Gordon, a field officer at the National Water Commission in Linstead, St. Catherine.
RAISING HOMES AND LIVES
To date, the project has raised J$1 million to rebuild 10 one-room houses -- 12 by 16 feet. Eight of the houses are under construction and the group has fundraising efforts underway to raise enough money to rebuild another 40 homes by August. Yard Project is being assisted by Children First, a charitable agency located in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, which is getting funding from the European Union.
Beyond the damage left by the hurricane, Dr. Gordon is taking aim at the general level of poverty -- overcrowded and dilapidated houses, poor sanitation, bad roads and lack of health and other facilities -- in the community. "The idea is to develop a long-term project to move the community forward," he said. Thus, Yard Project has devised a four-pronged strategy to address environmental, economic, cultural and social issues.
"What we had (in years gone by) was a fishing village but today what we have is growth without development. That is, the population is growing but not the infrastructure," he added, pointing to the issue of crime (drugs and guns) and the problem of squatting, especially by people coming from other parishes or other parts of St. Catherine.
HEALTH CENTRE
Over the next three years Yard Project plans to build a community health centre. "There are over 8,000 to 10,000 people living in Old Harbour Bay and the nearest clinic is approximately three miles away, in Old Harbour," said Dr. Gordon.
"We also do not have a financial institution or a public library, and we are almost exclusively dependent on fishing for employment and we just have to diversify."
"In other words, Yard Project wants to make Old Harbour Bay a place where locals can thrive and expatriates can feel safe to come back and live," said Dr. Gordon.
