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| Florida man helps rebuild island
churches, homes By Michael Wacht |
 |
ORLANDO — “I got a wake up call when I went to Montserrat,” the Rev. Thomas Lewis Curtis of Orlando said. “I found out what mission work is all about — when you go there and see a whole nation devastated.”
Curtis is involved in efforts to provide relief to the people of Montserrat, the Caribbean island that is now two-thirds uninhabitable because of volcanic eruptions that began in July 1995. He’s also leading the Living Waters Project which provides water purification systems to the Caribbean and Africa.
Curtis, who traveled to Montserrat last May, said he went to “purify water and to make sure the Methodist churches were rebuilt. But the needs were much greater than I ever imagined.”
He said the island was still recovering from 1989’s Hurricane Hugo when the Soufriere Hills volcano, which had been dormant for more than 300 years, became active.
“Everywhere you step, there’s pyroclastic ash,” Curtis said. “I saw [the city of] St. Patrick’s covered by lava — there were no structures visible. What once was a flourishing tourist attraction no longer exists. The southern portion [of the island] was devastated. The northern portion was protected by a high range of mountains. Most of the people lived in the south.”
Only about 4,000 of the 11,000 people who once lived on the island remain, crowded into shelters, dormitories and churches, says Curtis. The other 7,000 fled to neighboring islands, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Curtis says three of the island’s five Methodist churches were destroyed by the eruptions. Last July a team of eight volunteers from First United Methodist Church, Kissimmee, helped members of Monsterrat’s Cavalla Hill Methodist Church build a new apartment building that will provide housing for some of the people who are still living in shelters.
During his visit, Curtis met with island government officials and builders to start coordinating ways to provide people with affordable, durable housing. He is also working with leaders in the housing, insurance and banking industries in the United States and around the world to find resources to help the people begin rebuilding their lives.
“The focus is more on housing grants and sweat equity programs since the people don’t have the wherewithal to make a monthly payment because they don’t have jobs,” Curtis said, adding that 100 percent of the island’s factory space was destroyed and 85 percent of the best agricultural land is covered in ash and lava.
To address the island’s short-term needs, Curtis’ church, Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Orlando, is collecting clothes and linens, as wells as window dressings and throw rugs to decorate a senior citizens’ center.
Curtis visited the British colonial island on the urging of his 7-year-old daughter, Tamara, who saw a video in school on the volcanic eruption. Curtis said his daughter told him that many people in the Methodist church in Montserrat “got their churches destroyed” and urged him “to go check on the Methodist churches and the children without schools in Montserrat.”
He said he was hesitant to visit the island because the volcano is still active: “You justify why you don’t want to do something, not why it needs to be done. Those people need assistance.”
(Individuals interested in helping the people of Montserrat or serving on a United Methodist Volunteers in Missions work team may contact Sherri Mangueira at 941-774-4063 or 800-675-0632, access code 32. Or they may visit the General Board of Global Ministries web site at http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/montvol.html )
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