Montserrat, August 14, 1995
On Tour with the Evacuees
By Wilsie White
Some of them had not been to the North of the island in years, several of them are
occasional visitors, but for all of the residents from Long Ground, Whites, Tuitts,
Farms and Trants the village of Brades, Cavalla Hill, Davy Hill, Cudjoe Head, Judy
Piece or St. John’s in the far north of the island is home. Their move to the area
was brought on by volcanic activity in the east of the island. The elderly are
housed in schools and the able bodied mostly in Churches in the area.
St. John’s, the larger of the villages in the declared ‘safe area’ is known for its rum
shops (stand—up Bars) on one side and churches on the other side of its main
road. And while you may pass through the other villages without realizing an
increase in the population, the increase in traffic on the main road through Davy Hill
to St. John’s strikes you immediately. You soon discover that here is where most of
the able-bodied have taken shelter while the aged and infirm are accommodated in
schools and community centres mainly in Brades and Cavalla Hill.
A visit to the centres of the aged has been known to reduce the strong and healthy
to tears. This is not because of the conditions under which they may be forced to
wait out an erupting volcano, but because of the pain of dislocation which shows on
bewildered faces. Some of them have little or no bladder and bowels control. Some
are weak and suffer from a variety of ailments. Most of them rest on cots all of the
time and depend on volunteers who man the centres. “I do not like it here one bit,
but I think we are comfortable, yes we are comfortable,” a retired teacher said.
Other evacuees in the centres for the aged complain of sleepless nights because
of the “racket some people make.” And pointing to an elderly woman in a corner
another centre resident said ‘see her, they had to give her an injection to quiet her
down so the rest of us could sleep.’
Last Saturday afternoon one centre came to unusual life following an incident in
which one elderly woman damaged an eye of another around her age. I estimate
they are probably in their 80’s. The feeling in the centre is that it was a wilful act.
But the lady in her defence said ‘I would never do such a thing, this is a woman who
since I have been here I share every thing I have with. ‘ Not so the other old folk say
and a close relative lends some credence to the wilful story when he declares that it
was final settlement of an old grudge which was sparked by an ancient love triangle
affair in which the injured old lady was the victor.
Your feelings could also go out for another old lady who tries to convince all that
there is a table next to her cot with a cup of water. ‘Well, that’s what she had at
home but there is no such comfort in the centre,’ an acquaintance reveals.
Life for the aged is far from being the same but most of them appear satisfied with
the conditions including the food and toilet facilities.
The situation was not quite the same when I moved towards the area where most of
the able-bodied were housed. On the Street particularly in St. John’s Hi-Fi systems
blast, icecream and other vendors stop close to the centres and you get the feeling
that it could be business as usual. But there are long faces and the closer to the
centres you get the longer the faces grow as men and women alike lament their
dislocation.
Men in the centres worry about farms and gardens they left behind in Long Ground
and Tuitts. One of the larger farmers speaks of ‘living in hell because all my crops
will be lost and the Banks will come and get me.’ Yet another Long Ground farmer
related how on a visit back to the village and his garden he found most of his crops
destroyed and ‘cattle and donkeys chewing their cud in my ground.’
In the shelters women several of whom work in the capital spend most of their
leisure time sitting around and wishing the volcano will erupt or do what it has to do
in a hurry. “However, it was worst when we came here” a lady who works as a
secretary with a Plymouth firm,” recalled. “But since they moved out the rum
drinkers things have improved.” By the second day of the evacuation, the
authorities had taken steps to ensure that the boisterous were separated from the
more conservative folk.
Several voluntary organisations including the St. John Ambulance Brigade, the Red
Cross and church groups have been assisting with running of the centres. And the
feeling among some groups is that families who normally cater for their elderly folk
could do more. The groups have been cooking, cleaning and seeing to the health
needs of the bedridden and vision impaired. But one official advocating that
relatives need to minister to their aged relatives daily, observed that some next of
kin had surrendered their responsibility.
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