Grenada Appeal - Project Summary

September, 2004 to May, 2007

THE GRENADA APPEAL CLOSES

The Grenada Appeal, originally conceived as a twelve-month project, has closed after thirty-three months working with the people of Grenada. Read on to learn how the adventure ended.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

CrisisShield came about as a result of category-four hurricane Ivan which, during fourteen terrible hours on 7th September 2004, left one-third of Grenadians homeless. The Island was devastated with damage estimated by the IMF to be more than 200% of Grenada's GDP. By any standards, this was a disaster of immense proportions and, being so quickly followed by two century-class disasters (the Boxing-Day Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina), was also considered by the UN to be the most underreported ever. CrisisShield grew out of this disaster when a group of yachts-people, ex-pats and Grenadians pooled their resources to support those worst affected by the Hurricane.

FIRST-PHASE - THE ACUTE NEEDS FOR FOOD, WATER AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES

Whilst most of these volunteers had houses and yachts that were severely damaged or written off, they used whatever resources they had left to help those who, due to circumstances, were unable to help themselves. Within days aid, donated and delivered by the yachting and local communities in Barbados, Trinidad and Venezuela, was flowing through this group and other ad hoc organisations to be distributed to remote villages, principally in St. David's, being the parish worst affected. In addition, in excess of US$38,000 was raised to support the hospitals - which were at breaking point - with food, medicine and a generator to keep the laundry functioning.

SECOND-PHASE - THE CHRONIC NEED FOR HOUSING

Recognising that meeting these acute support needs was only the start of Grenada's challenges, a number of these volunteers then formalised their aid efforts by registering CrisisShield as Non-Governmental Organisations/Charities in the UK, US and Canada. With this change the focus now moved to the more chronic need for hurricane-resistant housing.

By the conclusion of the Appeal a further US$264,000 had been raised, bringing the total to US$302,050, with this extra money funding thirteen hurricane-resistant houses. But these simple statistics belie the months and years of determination that CrisisShield volunteers have shown whilst competing with other disasters to attract funding, and operating in a post-disaster environment and culture that provided plenty of opportunities to develop tolerance, determination and understanding.

WHO MADE IT HAPPEN

First and foremost were these volunteers, all of whom gave their time without charge and with the vast majority not even claiming expenses. They came principally from the international yachting community, the ex-pat community and with many Grenadians lending their support also. Without their selfless contributions none of CrisisShield's achievements would have been possible, and whilst they are too numerous to mention all by name, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved.

The other key element for any organisation like CrisisShield is those people who are prepared to put their hands in their pocket. The majority were individuals, with two of the three most generous donors expressing a preference for anonymity. However, two organisations deserve particular mention.

Our largest donor was the Chartered Institute of Housing. Thanks to the encouragement of Richard Renwick MBE, Barrington Billings made CrisisShield the beneficiary of his President's Appeal which contributed a total of US$60,781 to our work. Theirs and their members' support was instrumental and came at a time when, due to other disasters, all further lines of funding had dried up. Also making a big impact was the fourth largest contributor, Grenada's Housing Authority, providing US$35,350 of early funding towards four houses which were co-funded by further donations made on island. Other notable donors included Nightingale Charitable Trust, Alasdair & Jean England, Sonia Drake, John Triggs, Melvin & Bren Simon Foundation, Doug & Gill Hurt, Trevor & Terri Butcher, John Franklin, Andy Green, Craig and Karen Marsh, Greta Geankoplis, Enza Marine, Leon Taylor and a syndicate organised by David Williams.

HOW WE BUILT THE HOUSES

We initially set up a yard and arranged the supply of steel-framed kit-houses from Antigua. However, as supply problems grew and the donation forecasts reduced with each new world disaster that followed, we moved to an on-island supplier. We constructed a total of seven of these kit houses.

The move to the on-island supplier, Building Techniques, greatly simplified the logistics by allowing us to close our yard and enabled a further six concrete houses to be built. However, the problems did not end and we were therefore particularly grateful to Alicia Griffith and Ken Davies for sticking with it and overcoming some of the numerous challenges that continued to arise on our behalf.

WHO BENEFITED

On an island where one-third of the population were homeless, selecting who was most deserving was not an easy job. Our solution was to seek out those least able to help themselves, and at the end all our recipients were either elderly, disabled or single-parent families. Photos of all houses and recipients can be seen at www.CrisisShield.Org.

Whilst we set out to help Grenadians principally with housing, we were delighted to notice that this provided a foundation for most of our recipients to improve other areas of their lives also. To a person, and each in their own way, they also showed a depth of gratitude that left us feeling it had been very much worthwhile after all!

IN THE BACKGROUND

With any operation like this the obvious activity is just the tip of the iceberg with most of the work being hidden from view. Whilst volunteers came and went, notable amongst those who contributed at some stage of the Appeal or other, and who undertook these often thankless tasks, were:

Full-Timers

My wife, Sarah Bruce, (s/y Indigo Drum - damaged by Ivan) worked for the thirty-three-month duration of the Appeal in whatever roles needed doing (albeit we have both been part-time for the last few months); Jim and Kathleen Davidson (s/y Drummer) worked for ten months running the construction and fundraising respectively; Ron Thomson (s/y Jacobite) assisted for several months in setting up the yard and construction processes; Robert Monnier (s/y Myriad) ran the yard for the time we were building steel-framed houses, and; Anshu Sharma helped out on the fundraising for a number of weeks. The arrival of these volunteers and the energy they infused was critical to the continuation of CrisisShield at a time when we were beset by one unexpected challenge after another.

Part-Timers

Working equally hard but on a part-time basis were: Greta Geankoplis (ex s/y Fortuna - written-off by Ivan); Vicki Thackray; Sonia Drake (ex m/y Sonia D – damaged by Ivan); Daniela Froehlich (s/y Dione); Robin & Nanette Swaisland (m/y Happy Our - damaged by Ivan); Clare Lee; Junior Cuffie; Numa Rais; Steve Aspey (s/y Melika); Russell Hough; Craig & Karen Marsh (ex s/y Fabuloso); Paul Pearson (s/y Jasp); Jesse James; Paul (whose surname and boat-name escape me, sorry); Isabelle Slinger; Laura Macneil; Trevor & Terri Butcher (s/y Calical - former yacht damaged by Ivan); Grant Lambert; Joni St. Bernard; John Triggs (s/y Little Women - damaged by Ivan); Sarah Kennedy; Mike Bingley & Lucy Murchie (s/y Tulaichean II - damaged by Ivan); Peter & Anne Thomson (s/y Muskrat - damaged by Ivan); Steve Wooster (ex s/y Delphina - lost as a result of Ivan); Michael MacIntyre; Claude & Wendy McKernan (s/y Wend); Cay Hickson (s/y My Way - damaged by Ivan); Jill Richards; Jill Longson; Inga Luce (Harbour Home); Marilyn Prickett; Allen Brusilow; Pastor Maureen Magneson, and; last but definitely not least, Denyse Ogilvie.

Businesses

Of course, businesses were also of significant assistance to our cause, including: CoTech (Guy Thackray); Compass Magazine (Sally Erdle); Palm Island Resort; SVG Air; Island Water World (Jonathan Fisher); Calabash Hotel (Clive Barnes); Horizon Yacht Charters (James & Jacqui Pascal); Enza Marine (Neil Mcleod & then Greta Geankoplis); Outfitters (Alston and Margaret DeRoche); Budget Marine (Junior Cuffie); Prickly Bay Waterside (Jan & Conor); Bananas (Roger, Claire and Myrna Spronk); Ciboney Chambers (Nizam Burke); De Big Fish (Brad); Digicel (Janis Cuffie); Phusion (Richard Ramdhanny and Dee); and not forgetting the now closed Barking Barracuda (Ron & Jackie van Straalan).

Government

At a time when the workload for government was higher than normal many still found time to give support to CrisisShield, and we would like to particularly thank: the Agency for Reconstruction and Development; the Emergency Housing Committee; the Ministry for Legal Affairs; Grenadian Immigrations; Customs; and Coast Guard - and note the assistance of: the Prime Minister's Office; and the Ministries for Housing; and Finance.

Trustees

Finally, I would personally like to thank my fellow trustees, both past and present, whose contribution was vital. They were: Sarah Bruce (UK); Paul Collis (UK, US & Canada); Jim Davidson (US); Kathleen Davidson (US); Colin Habgood (UK - Chairman); Greta Geankoplis (US), Promil Paul (Canada); Ron Richards (US), and; Vicki Thackray (US).

Due to the passage of time and my imperfect memory, others deserving of recognition are bound to have been overlooked. However, mentioned or not, all stood up and made a difference without expectation of recognition or reward, and without whom CrisisShield could not and would not have existed.

To all of you who so generously joined in - whether as volunteer, donor, supporter or recipient - thank you for sharing the adventure!

Nick Bruce (s/y Indigo Drum)

Founding Trustee

Statistics

Total Funds Raised	US$302,050
Amount for food, medicine and generator	US$38,531
Amount for housing	US$263,519
Average house cost	US$20,270
Average cost per occupant	US$8,783
Total Houses Built	13
Bespoke	1
Open-Plan	4
Two-Bedroomed	8
Total people housed (approximately)	30