Blue Hole bounces back

Red Stripe employees, residents of Blue Hole, and community leaders gather to mark the completion of restoration work on the community centre through support from Heineken Global. AS Jamaica enters the most active months of the Atlantic hurricane season — August and September — recovery continues in communities still rebuilding from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Melissa last October. Blue Hole, St James, is one of those communities. For generations, its community centre has served as a gathering place for meetings, homework programmes, cultural activities and other events. Category Five Melissa severely damaged the building, tearing off its roof and causing extensive damage to the kitchen and bathroom, forcing its closure. In the weeks that followed, the centre also provided temporary shelter for residents whose homes had been affected by the storm. The Desnoes & Geddes (D&G) Foundation has now completed a $2.5 million rehabilitation of the facility, restoring it for community use. The project, made possible through donations from employees across the Heineken network following Melissa, concludes the foundation’s community rehabilitation programme in response to the disaster. The rehabilitation included roofing, plumbing and electrical repairs, painting, the installation of hurricane straps, repairs to the perimeter wall, furniture restoration and the removal of damaged materials. Red Stripe Managing Director Holly Bostock lends a hand during restoration works at Blue Hole Community Centre as employees completed the rehabilitation project. Red Stripe employees, interns, and residents also came together to add the final touches before officially reopening the centre. “The days immediately after a disaster often bring an outpouring of support. The work of rebuilding continues long after the cameras leave and the headlines have faded,” a company news release quotes Red Stripe Managing Director Holly Bostock. “One of the things that has stayed with me about this project is knowing that colleagues from across our global network, many who have never been to Jamaica and will never meet the people of Blue Hole, still chose to help. Their generosity reminds us that compassion isn’t limited by geography,” added Bostock. She said seeing that generosity mirrored by Red Stripe employees and interns brought the story full circle. “Watching our own employees and interns work alongside residents to prepare the centre for its reopening has been equally inspiring. It speaks to the resilience of this community and to what is possible when people come together with a shared purpose. We’re proud that the D&G Foundation has been able to play a small part in reopening a place that means so much to the people of Blue Hole,” declared Bostock. Blue Hole resident Jennifer Grant said the reopening restores a place that has supported the community through both ordinary life and extraordinary hardship. Councillor Javin Baker (left), Member of Parliament for St James Southern Nickesha Burchell (centre) and Red Stripe’s Communications and Sustainability Manager Daika Mitchell share a laugh as they celebrate the reopening of Blue Hole Community Centre. “We love the little centre. After the hurricane, people who lost their houses came to stay here and this became the place where we gathered to worship after Melissa mash up the church. Having it restored means we have somewhere to come together again,” said Grant. Member of Parliament for St James Southern Nickesha Burchell welcomed the completion of the project, noting that the community centre has long been one of Blue Hole’s most important public spaces. “The community centre had already fallen on hard times, and Hurricane Melissa made things worse by tearing off its roof. For a period, it even sheltered residents who had lost their homes. We reached out to the D&G Foundation for help to restore it, and it’s heart-warming to see everyone, from management to interns, travel from Kingston to help put on the final touches,” Burchell said. “This centre will once again provide a home for homework programmes, cultural activities and community gatherings. We will take care of it, and the community is looking forward to using it again,” added Burchell. As another hurricane season unfolds, the reopening of the Blue Hole Community Centre reflects a simple but important truth: recovery continues long after the immediate response has ended. With the doors open once again, the Blue Hole Community Centre returns to its role at the heart of community life. Homework programmes, community meetings, cultural activities and other gatherings are set to resume, giving residents back a space that has served the community for generations.