Ivan: A Volunteer’s Experience

For those who have long believed that volunteering is an essential part of who they are, a test of their dedication surely came along with category five Hurricane Ivan. Clitey Christian, a nurse and Red Cross volunteer for over 20 years, was summoned to the Breakers Community Centre Shelter the evening of 11 September. Accompanied by eleven-year-old daughter Sheila, herself a two-year Red Cross volunteer, Clitey joined shelter warden Tony Powell while the weather was still calm. Soon the shelter was filled and they knew they would have to eke out their limited provisions.

Faced with Ivan’s wrath, she moved among the 40+ shelterees, dispensing medicines and comfort, sharing prayers and doing whatever she could to help them. As the storm peaked, the people remained calm: “Faced with Ivan’s wrath, we knew there was little we could do besides pray,” says Clitey. “The place was boarded up but we could hear objects outside, beating on the building and there was a moment of panic as water started coming underneath the door, but with teamwork, we used what was on hand to block it. I just knew that God wouldn’t let us down.”

Young Sheila also kept busy during the storm. “It was my job to watch over children at the shelter,” she explains. “I helped them colour and pray, and we also watched Shrek on a portable DVD. My mom had told me I shouldn’t be scared and working with the kids helped to keep my mind off what was happening.”

But more was to come: at the height of the storm, more people struggled through buffeting wind and relentless rain to the community centre. Although it was full, none were denied entry to its relative warmth and security. Two police officers put their own lives at risk, venturing out to save a severely injured resident who badly needed Clitey’s nursing skills.

“As soon as they brought him in, he passed out in my arms. It seemed like he was bleeding from everywhere. His blood pressure was so high I was afraid he would have a stroke,” says Clitey. “I stitched him up as best I could but wished I had more on hand to help him.”

Volunteers, who offer themselves to those in need, often do so knowing it may mean leaving their own families and possessions at great risk. For Clitey, this reality brought its own terror during the hurricane when she overheard a call on the police radio: a young mother with her four children—ages eleven, six, three, and one year—were running for their lives, with just the clothes on their back.

“I knew right then that it was my other daughter, Taekia. The police officers with us at Breakers bravely went back out to find out what they could. Ironically, when they found her, she had been more scared that something had happened to me!”

Taekia had been rescued with the children and taken to the Bodden Town Civic Centre. Hours later that shelter was destroyed too, forcing the evacuees to flee to another location while the storm still raged.

“When we finally got to see each other, we were both overjoyed,” Clitey recalls. “Despite losing everything we had we were grateful that at least we all had our lives—and each other. God is good and since we know this, in situations like Ivan, we just have to go out there and do whatever we can to help.”