Renford Trail, principal of the Maranatha High School in Turks and Caicos.

A team from Northern Caribbean University (NCU), comprising members from the behavioural sciences department, is currently providing assistance to the hurricane-ravaged Turks and Caicos Islands.

The team includes Dr Grace Kelly, chair of the department; Sharon McBayne, assistant chair; Bridgett Barrett and Halroy Bernard, as well as Orville Morgan, public relations officer for the university.

The team visited the seven-year-old Maranatha High School in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, which is the largest Seventh-day Adventist high school in the islands.

The institution had minimal physical damage from hurricanes Hanna and Ike, which affected the region earlier this month, but the group had the task of counselling students and teachers following the ravages of the weather systems.

Emotional counselling

Maureen Tucker, guidance counsellor at the institution, said that, from her assessment, some students had damage to uniforms and other school materials, while others who either lived or had relatives on Grand Turk or South Caicos, which got most of the damage, had emotional concerns.

Students of the Maranatha High School, who were directly affected by the hurricanes, had mixed reactions about the events that caused varying levels of damage to the islands.

Dario Chase, when asked to describe the ordeal, said it was horrible and terrifying.

"Some residents didn't take the warning seriously," Chase said when asked to elaborate on his feelings. "My windows started to fly, I tried to listen to music to keep myself calm, but I really couldn't bear it."

With his voice cracking slightly he continued, "then my roof came off, that was when I was scared".

Praise for team

Renford Trail, principal of the institution praised his staff and other team members for their preparations for the storm. He said they took the necessary precautions before the event, resulting in minimal damage to equipment and infrastructure.

He had high praise for the team from NCU, who shared in the devotional activities with the entire school population and offered post trauma counselling sessions, following the passage of hurri-canes Hanna and Ike.

More help needed

Trail noted that, because the island of Providenciales did not suffer the greatest adverse effects of Ike, people might have thought that it was unaffected by the hurricane.

However, the Maranatha High School principal pointed out that at least one community where his students live experienced severe flooding from Hurricane Hanna.

He said he believed more assistance was needed for that area.