Bahamian Liberty students bring to light the country’s current issues

From Aug. 28 through Sep. 7, nearly 30 Bahamian Liberty students watched as parts of their country went face-to-face with Hurricane Dorian. 

It was a waiting game for them, as phone lines died and the uncertainty of their families’ and friends’ safety lingered over their heads. 

Now the island country and its inhabitants face their biggest challenge: recovery.

“The biggest focus right now is on awareness because most of the world is already forgetting about this tragedy and many have never understood (its) extent,” said Mandy Bauer, a Liberty student whose family has visited the island of Great Abaco as many as four times a year since she was four years old. “(I) know all the natives there and consider them my family, as I have grown up with many of them and others have watched me grow up.”

Bauer says she spoke to many friends on the phone before the storm hit the island, but none of them anticipated the reality of the devastation after the hurricane passed.

 “Most of my friends are physically okay except for one who lost his arm,” Bauer said. “While we are extremely blessed that most of our friends were uninjured, the damages done to (my) community are unimaginable.”

Liberty student Ariannah Bain is a resident of the New Providence island. She says that although her island was not directly impacted by the hurricane, it did experience significant flooding. 

“(Having) a massive storm barreling toward your home and everyone you love while you are 800 miles away, unable to help prepare, is gut-wrenching,” Bain said. “Trying to focus on school is so draining and it seems almost selfish to worry about math homework when your people are struggling to
recover after such a devastating time.”

Celine Walkine, a sophomore, is a resident of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. Nassau is south of the Grand Bahama and Great Abaco Islands. 

“There is no island-to-island route in comparison to how Americans can move state to state – our islands are not connected,” Walkine said. 

Residents of the Bahaman islands are not able to evacuate the area like America’s South Atlantic states can, so hurricane preparation is as much a mental activity as it is physical.

In the wake of the storm, Walkine wants people to remember that many islands in the Bahamas remain standing despite the hurricane’s damage. 

“Although two of our islands are experiencing a major decline, our island is just bent and not broken,” Walkine said. “The Bahamas are still home to many beautiful cays, animals, and sites that are worth the trip. Do not let this (hurricane) hinder you from enjoying the other works of art God has placed in (this) beautiful country!”