Grenada Relief, Recovery & Reconstruction

Updates

September 15th, 2006
--GR3 Community Paint Project continues with homes being painted each week in Dudmar and Mt.Tranquil, St. David's Parish. This project has been active since early 2005 providing part-time employment for women. Designed to fit around the children's school schedule, women can work while their kids are in class. The wooden homes that are being painted were rebuilt or repaired after Hurricane Ivan by GR3, USAID, Red Cross, and the government of Grenada. The Paint Project promotes community development, income and a sense of self-esteem for these under-employed women. The homes that are painted belong to the most vulnerable in the community, the disabled or elderly.

July 20th, 2006
--The FUTURE organization based in the UK has donated funds from a musical event they organized in London to raise funds for hurricane relief in Grenada. The exciting evening featured the music, food and culture of Grenada. Funds raised were donated to GR3 and the British Red Cross.

June 15th, 2006
--GR3 completes construction of a new home in Gouyave, St.John. This new home will replace a home totally destroyed by Hurricane Ivan.

May 15th, 2006
--The Asian-Pacific Island Student Asssociation (APISA) at St. George's University made a generous donation to GR3 for continuation of the Community Paint Project in the parish of St. David.

April 29th, 2006
--GR3 and St. George's University medical students volunteer to paint the exterior of the new Diabetes Association building in preparation for the grand opening of this resource center May 4, 2006.

April 15th, 2006
--GR3 in partnership with USAID begins contruction of a new home in Gouyave, St.John. This home will be for a single working mother and her 4 children. This new home will replace the home totally destroyed by Hurricane Ivan.

March 22th, 2006
--GR3 paints the home of a person disabled by diabetes in Providence, St.David's. GR3 rebuilt John Thomas' home while he was in hospital, adding new windows, doors and a new roof built to hurricane resistant standards.

March 18th, 2006
--GR3 and St. George's University medical student volunteers complete phase one rehabilitation of St. John's Ambulance building. New doors and locks were installed, plumbing fixtures replaced, tables and chairs cleaned and repaired and complete interior painted. Grenada Diabetes Association will be using this facility as a health resource center.

March 1st, 2006
--GR3 staff complete 3 day seminar given by Habitat for Humanity focused on housing in Grenada. Topics included professional management, fund-raising and organizational policy.

Feb 18th, 2006
--GR3 and St. George's University medical student volunteers start rehabilitation of St. John's Ambulance building. Grenada Diabetes Association will be using this facility as a health resource center. SGU medical students plan to help with basic screening services and assist in providing diabetes information and education.

Feb 15th, 2006
--The ARD (Agency for Reconstruction and Development) holds planning session for this years Job Fair. GR3 staff and St. George's University student volunteers will be assisting job seekers with critical steps such as self-assessment of personal skills and interests, how to organize education and experience into a resume.

Jan 24th, 2006
--Global Village Shelter evaluation team arrives in Grenada. Architecture for Humanity funded the evaluation team's visit to Grenada Jan 24 -30 2006 with the mission to assess shelter design, useage, and durability in a tropical enviroment.

Jan 14th, 2006
--GR3 assists in starting a baking co-operative, holding a training session and funding intial bake sale by Dudmar Sweet Treats Co-operative.

Jan 4th, 2006
--GR3 starts new house foundation and floor structure in partnership with Twin Falls First United Methodist Church Grenada Relief Team that arrived in Grenada Jan 15th to complete the new home for the Phillip family in Mon Repo, St. David's. Together we also installed new windows and painted 3 other homes of disadvantaged families in St David's parish.

Dec 20th, 2005
-- St. George's University students donate goods for needy persons in St. Davids parish. When medical students finish studies in Grenada they always have extra clothes, household items and school supplies. Rather than ship them back home, students donated these items to GR3 for distribution through a giveaway/sale before Christmas. Women from vulnerable St. David's households were invited to "shop" using vouchers that allowed the goods to be equitably shared among all the shoppers. Food and cash donations were used to provide well stocked Christmas food baskets for elderly persons in the Vincennes, Dudmar, Mt Tranquil area.

Dec 18th, 2005
--GR3 Installs new roof and repairs walls in Mt Tranquil for an elderly woman who had not received any assistance at all since Hurricane Ivan. Most materials provided by USAID/Padco.

Dec 12th, 2005
--GR3 builds two new houses in the parish of St. David. One house was built in Mt Tranquil for an elderly woman. A second house was built in Dudmar for a single mother with five children who had not received housing assistance post-Ivan. Most materials provided by USAID/Padco.

Dec 12th, 2005
-- Public Health research collaboration between St. George's University medical students and GR3 investigators led to four accepted presentations at the annual American Public Health Association conference in Philadelphia. The Grenada post-hurricane topics were the subject of these four presentations and were enthusiastically received.

Dec 8, 2005
-- The second USAID/Padco Community Development Grant to provide hurricane resistant homes is completed: on time and under budget in the communities of Vincennes, Mt Tranquil, and Providence.

Nov 15th 2005
-- A temporary tarpaulin house was enclosed and sided with wood by GR3 workers; for a young single mom who is expecting a next child within 3 months. Materials funded by USAID with labour cost funded by the Barbados Social Work Group (students at University of the West Indies)

Nov-Dec 2005
-- Painting teams comprised of community members complete assigned houses, As GR3 contract employees,the mostly women teams are paid per house completed. Paint was provide by PADCO/USAID. The end result is protection of new wood and attractive communities..

Oct 6th
The Wheelchair Foundation, a US-based non-profit organization, is leading an international effort to deliver a wheelchair to everyone in the world who needs one but can't afford one. As recipients of their goal to deliver 1 million wheelcharis in the next 5 years, one shipping container of wheelchairs (comprising 280 new wheelchairs!) was donated for mobility-impaired persons in Grenada. The Wheelchair Foundation partners with local NGO's who can assist in tax-free importation, identification of recipients and distribution of wheelchairs to needy individuals. GR3 and the South St. George's Welfare Association, with support by the Ministry of Health, pooled their energy to make this donation a reality in Grenada.
This project began nearly one year earlier after Hurricane Ivan, when 10 wheelchairs were donated as relief supplies. At that time, the acute need for mobility among the disabled was noted by key persons who initiated the introduction to the Wheelchair Foundation's program. Finally, the chairs are here!
The dedication ceremony and delivery of the first chairs took place on the grounds of the Grenada Trade Centre on Thursday. Nearly 100 chairs were handed out that day for disabled persons who are each photographed in their new chairs, per compliance with the Foundation's distribution policy. For persons who have been shut-ins at home, teams of volunteers from So. St. George's and GR3 travel to the recipients residence to ensure that all chairs are distributed to those who need them. The chairs are very durable in construction and sporty in appearance, so disabled persons should be able to get out more and participate in family, church and community events.

Oct 1st
GR3 partnered with the St. Andrew's North-East Community group to distribute 10 more Global Villages Shelters to persons needing temporary housing. This active committee met to determine the persons in greatest need of temporary shelter and arranged to deliver them to each person and help source wood for the flooring. SGU volunteers came the following weekend to assist in the set-up of several shelters.

Sept 24st
--30 Global Village Shelters were delivered to people in the communities of Paradise and Seamoon in St. Andrews parish who needed temporarly housing after the recent hurricanes. A morning training session was held at Belmont Estate to show the community volunteers and St. George's University student volunteers the correct techniques for assembling the shelters on each site. Everyone got a chance to help set-up the demonstration shelter and experience first-hand how quickly the shelters are assembled. Later that day, SGU volunteers went door-to-door, helping the beneficiaries set up shelters for those in need of assistance. Community organizers helped to identify persons who received a shelter and will assist in monitoring and evaluating the shelters over time. .

Sept 21st
--50 more Global Village Shelters arrived in Grenada and have been delivered to Hearts and Hands of Grenada at Belmont Estate in northern Grenada. GR3 is coordinating with local community groups to distribute and assemble the shelters for those left homeless after Hurricane Emily. Designed to provide immediate housing to those who are homeless, the shelters go up rapidly and last for about one year. Special thanks to Architecture for Humanity who organized funding to ship them down here.

Sept 14th
-- 250 new wheelchairs donated by the Wheelchair Foundation, a US organization, have been received at the GR3 office today. Following months of organizing by Ann Hopkin, Vice-President of GR3 and President of the South St. George's Welfare League, the wheelchairs will be distributed to disabled persons in Grenada in collaboration with the Grenada Ministry of Health.

Sept 10th
-- GR3 staff and volunteers participated in the ARD Job Fair, held in St. Andrew's. Over 1,000 persons attended - primarily young women who were eager to work. GR3 trainers were kept busy throughout the day assisting job seekers with critical steps such as self-assessment of personal skills and interests, how to organize education and experience into a resume, and ways to communicate interest and expertise during a job interview. They also ran a "Free Flea Market".with clothing appropriate for job interviews.

Sept 1st
--GR3 has started the rebuilding of homes in Vincennes, Providence, and Mt. Tranquil, St. David's with a second USAID/Padco Community Development Grant to provide hurricane resistant homes to Grendians in need after Hurricane Ivan's passage. Nearly one year after Ivan many communities are still in need of assistance in the rebuilding of their homes and communities. GR3 has also applied for a Community Development Grant from the A.R.D. ( Agency for Reconstruction and Development) for the community of La Borie, St. George's which is in great need of assistance rebuilding of their homes..

July 28th
--Global Village Shelters arrive in Grenada The first 20 temporary houses designed by Global Village Shelters. Designed and organized by Dan and Mia Ferrara to fill the void of providing immediate housing to those who are homeless, the shelters are designed to go up rapidly and last for about one year. Several architects, architectural NGOs, companies and private donors contributed to the effort in getting the shelters to Grenada. GR3 has organized duty and tax concessions for these relief supplies, coordinating with the Grenada Emergency Housing Committee, Agency for Reconstruction and Development, several small NGO’s and rural communities to get the shelters in place and set up. More details forthcoming on this effective collaboration.

July 27th
-- Barbados Social Work group funds house repairs by GR3 crews. A group of 3rd year social work students led by Dr. L. Rock, from the University of the West Indies, were in Grenada after Hurricane Ivan, doing relief work in the community of Windsor Forest as part of a Community Organisation class. They identified a female-headed household with four children whose home had been destroyed but were given a temporary shelter with tarpaulin walls by Samaritan’s Purse. To assist the family further and try to reduce asthma attacks among several children from the damp dwelling, the social work students raised funds to enclose the walls, strengthen the structure and make it a more permanent residence. GR3 agreed to organize the effort on behalf of the Barbados students. John Speake, head of the GR3 building committee, estimated the material costs, transported building materials to the site and identified two GR3 carpenters to work on the house. They were assisted by the homeowner and neighbors to complete this job. The Putney student group also helped with construction on the house and repaired leaking galvanized roofs of other houses in the community.

July 18th
--While people in St. David’s Parish waited for assistance with house repairs and rebuilding from hurricane Ivan, their patched-together houses were no match for hurricane Emily. GR3 housing crews resumed the temporary "dry-in" of houses damaged further by the latest hurricane. This time the crew consisted mostly of St. David’s volunteers from GR3’s carpentry staff , assisted by Putney Group with "drying-in" houses for others in nearby communities. Putney students donned latex gloves to dab roof tar over holes and seams in the damaged galvanized sheeting that still covers roofs of many Grenadian homes post Ivan.

July 17, 2005
-- The latest assessment report estimates that Hurricane Emily left 167 families homeless in Grenada and 2,641 roofs damaged.
PRIORITY NEEDS LIST - Tarpaulins - Roofing material - Food stuff - Water cans/bottles - Water storage tanks (for shelters) - Basic household items (eg. Mattress, beds, cookers, utensils).

July 14, 2005
--Hurricane Emily struck Grenada early on Thursday morning July 14, 2005. The northern parishes of St. Andrews, St. Patricks, Carriacou and Petit Martinique were hardest hit, but damage was reported throughout the country. ELECTRICITY GRENLEC reported the following: 1. Power restoration to business places is be given priority; 2. Power to Petit Martinique has been restored and Carriacou expects to receive service by 6:00 p.m. today; 3. The south of the island will receive power in a few days; 4. The Town of St. George is fully restored and Gouyave on the western side will be restored by 7:00 p.m. today. RESPONSE 1. Two aircrafts from Trinidad and Tobago and RSS respectively did an aerial view of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. The most affected areas were River Sallee, Soubise, Marquis and Telescope in the North of the island; 2. There was one confirmed death in St. Cloud’s, St. Andrews as the result of a landslide; 3. Some persons in shelters are now returning home; 4. Supplies to the badly hit sister island of Carriacou including blankets, sleeping bags, flashlights and batteries etc. was facilitated by the Grenada Coast Guard; 5. CDERA has been in constant contact. Mr. Donovan Gentles of CDERA is expected in Grenada on Friday; 6. Information was disseminated more rapidly with this event; 7. The curfew hours has been revised to commence at 11:00 p.m. and end at 4:00 a.m. HOUSING 1. 50% of the housing stock in Mt. Rich, St. Patrick’s has reportedly been destroyed; 2. Discussions were held with USAID; 3. The technical team will be working on the western side on Friday 15th; 4. Galvanize from India is expected to arrive by August. The Cadrona Geriatric home has already been re-roofed as a matter of priority; 5. Some persons may have to remain in shelters for a longer period than anticipated since they have no homes to return to. WATER 1. The dams in North East St. George’s has been analysed and are all operational now; 2. Water will be restored to the western side of the island by tomorrow Friday; 3. Once power is restored to the badly hit eastern side the service will be restored there. FINANCE 1. The team is currently out in the field conducting damage assessment exercise; 2. It has been noticed that the houses that were recently rebuilt better and stronger withstood the impasse; 3. The agricultural sector has been badly hit; 4. Infrastructure has not been badly affected; 5. The financial sector has responded admirably. They will be ready to operate from tomorrow Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. RED CROSS 1. Contact has been made with the International Red Cross; 2. Request was made for 10,000 to 15,000 tarpaulins, hygiene kits, jeri cans and first aid kits which are specifically for the shelters. These supplies are expected to arrive on Saturday. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1. Based on a recommendation by the Chamber, business will resume as usual on Friday. MINISTRY OF WORKS 1. The roads on the western side of the island and St. Andrews have been cleared. (From: Coordinator, National Disaster Management Agency Grenada)

July 2, 2005
--GR3 hosted their inaugural Health Fair in cooperation with SGU medical students in Vincennes, St. David’s Parish on Saturday, 2nd July, 2005. It was held at St. Theresa R.C. School from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. The event was well attended by nearly 75 residents of all ages from the surrounding communities. In addition to checking for hypertension and diabetes, the students measured height, weight, and vision. Personal interviews were conducted with volunteers to assess health issues related to living conditions post-Ivan. Participants in the hygiene survey received bars of soap as a thank you for providing helpful comments. Volunteers from one of the Putney Student Travel groups in Grenada helped to staff the entry and exit points, interact with youngsters, and assist the medical students in the assessment..

May 13, 2005
--GR3 House Repair Project #1 is completed. In making plans to address housing needs through a longer term reconstruction effort, GR3 staff, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity International staff has put together an accelerated pilot program to address the house repair needs of 11 families from the communities of Dudmar and Mount Tranquil in St. David’s Parish. Funded by PADCO/USAID, the project was completed on May 13th. The workmanship reviewed high marks for meeting hurricane resistant standards. Lessons learned from tackling the most challenging house repairs will prepare GR3 for the next repair projects.

May 5, 2005
--Two GR3 volunteers receive prestigious award. Mrs. Ann Hopkin, Vice-President and member of the Board of Directors and Ms. Indra Victor, volunteer from Dudmar, St. David’s Parish were honored at the Grenada National Awards Ceremony, held at the Grenada Trade Centre on 5th May. Both women were nominated for their selfless contribution to feeding other persons in their communities after Hurricane Ivan. They each received a plaque and words of gratitude from the Prime Minister, Governor General and packed audience.

April 13, 2005
-- GR3, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity International staff were recently awarded a small training grant through CARANA/USAID. The grant provides one week of instruction, stipend and tools. It’s purpose is to teach basic carpentry skills to family members who are participating in the GR3/HFHI house repair projects. The first class started in Mt. Tranquil, with a second course planned for Dudmar.

March 14, 2005
-- USAID visits GR3 project in St. David's. USAID Director Karen Turner and other site visitors were pleased with progress of home repairs and quality of work.

February 4, 2005 -- PADCO/USAID approves first GR3/HFHI house repair project in St. David's Parish.

January 13, 2005 -- Board of Directors accept Letter of Intent between GR3 and Habitat for Humanity International for a three month disaster recovery program.

December 17th, 2004 -- Mr. Mario Flores, Director of the Disaster Response Office at Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) traveled to Grenada a second time, Dec 5-11, to establish the collaboration with GR3. He was accompanied by Mr. Edward Dunsworth, also from HFHI, who has experience in Belize with post-hurricane recovery efforts. Ed will return to Grenada in January 2005 to support the GR3-HFHI partnership and work with GR3 to address the immediate, substantial need for short-term shelter and better-built permanent housing.

AmCar Freight of Miami Florida arranged to have a container of relief supplies sent to Grenada just before Christmas. Items for GR3 distribution included a shipment from Miami by Tortuga Imports, coordinated by Marcia Hall. Another shipment was sent by Dr. Sara Pines and colleagues in upstate New York. Both shipments contained food, beverages, clothing, school supplies, toys and miscellaneous household goods. Once unloaded in Grenada, they were distributed to various church and community service groups for sorting and distribution to needy persons in their areas. Pictures and further information will be forthcoming.

November 22nd, 2004 -- GR3 continues to have ongoing relationships with NERO and key Government Ministries involved in coordinating relief efforts. In addition, we continue to collaborate with established organizations including the Grenada Red Cross, International Red Cross, USAID, UNDP, and many community, church-based and humanitarian relief groups.

GR3 has received official status as a registered NPO with the Attorney General and Government of Grenada, and has a trust account for monetary donations with National Commercial Bank of Grenada, Ltd.

GR3 signed a formal Memorandum of Agreement with United Way of Miami-Dade in October. By this mechanism, the United Way Operation Helping Hands will serve as a recipient for funds earmarked for Grenada relief for GR3 in the United States. Mr. Roy Hall is helping to expedite this important partnership from his base in Miami.

GR3 submitted a packet of materials and an application for partnership with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) in time for discussion at their International Board Meeting during the week of November 8-12, 2004. The feedback from Mr. Mario Flores, the Director of the Disaster Response Office has been most positive. He said that GR3 has been asked by the International Board of Directors to partner with HFHI on a disaster response intervention in Grenada. They have proposed a two-part effort and have limited funding available for staff support, house repairs and material distribution during the first 3 month phase. However, it would provide organizational support to set up the selection process for new homes, do procurement etc. for the second 18 month phase in which they will assist us in formalizing agreements with Housing Authority, and obtain funding for new housing construction. A partnership with HFHI will enhance GR3’s ability to obtain materials and donations to address the immediate, substantial need for short-term shelter and better-built permanent housing.

Several board members of GR3 attended the Donors Conference on Friday Nov 19th in St. George’s. Most of the meeting was an update on the post-Ivan situation in Grenada and the Government’s proposals for reconstruction and development, and updates on pledged financial and technical support. Plans seem to be coming together slowly as the new Agency for Reconstruction and Development comes on line.

Thank you for your interest and support of GR3 activities. GR3 continues to serve the needs of under-served Grenadians and to collaborate with other organizations in the post-Ivan period.

Press Info

Recent Articles Relating to GR3:
The Grenadian Voice March 2005 -- USAID tours island reconstruction projects

Photos

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