Not wasting any time, Pella Christian’s team had another productive day in Abaco shopping like locals at the grocery store and cleaning up two different locations.
Read past blogs from this team and others at Team Updates – Many Hands Impact
The first place we went was the Abaco Groceries. We split into groups and shopped for a list of items to later distribute to 15 families in need. It was interesting to see the prices of products and to see the similarities and differences between the Abaco grocery store and grocery stores in America. The prices are higher in the Bahamas because of the high import/duty taxes on products. For example, a package of 44 ring pops was $42, and one gallon of milk was approximately $8, which is expensive in the United States. Some of the guys made a connection with Shawn (a young man who works at the grocery store) through the love of baseball.
We then went to two Community Centers, Murphy Town, and the former Marsh Harbour Library. The previous Impact Teams worked a lot on the Murphy Town Community Center; we were in charge of maintaining cleanliness by picking up trash inside and outside and sweeping the inside.
After that, we headed to the former Library in Marsh Harbour. We split up into three groups; one group painted primer on the outside of the building, one group hung drywall on the ceiling, and another group went to a church. During this work, we connected with people with different backgrounds and stories. This opened our eyes to see just how much people care for each other even though their lives were shaken and lost so much.
Because of the surplus of help, some of us were able to provide assistance to Crisis Relief by picking up trash at their demolition site. Crisis Relief is a group out of Ohio that works to restore churches and buildings in The Bahamas during the winter months.
Overall, we had a great day and accomplished a lot in just a few hours!
