The hot Caribbean sun beating down on us, we made our way inland, a quick two-mile trek from the ship. The walk was beautiful, but in a devastating way. Trees swayed back and forth in the light breeze, as the waves crashed upon the shore in a consistent pattern. The ocean water was blue, clear, and calm. However, trash littered the beaches. Everywhere I looked I saw pieces of trash strewn across the island. The further in we walked, the more garbage we saw. I will always remember seeing a house with a mountain of junk in the yard. Several houses were torn down, and many people were using tarps for their homes. 

We made our way to the field, used to the walk that we had made about twice a day for the past week. We reached the field and saw several children playing various sports: soccer (football as it was known there), volleyball, and running track. The kids saw us, the crew from the medical/mission ship Pacific Hope, and ran over. Their eyes shone bright with excitement as they invited us to play ball, as we had done the previous days. 

I will always remember two little girls who I connected with. Vasha and Jewell. Vasha was a quiet four-year-old who had been living on the island of Dominica her entire life. She was always happy despite her home being completely demolished in the hurricane. Then there was Jewell. She was the sweetest, most joyous little girl; she had so much love in her heart to give to others. All of the children were like this, I noticed. So many of them had suffered through so much, but were still the happiest people.  

Another person I will always remember is Osias. Osias was a teenage boy who we met while helping on the island. He had lost his father six months prior to us visiting. He had to suffer through the hurricane, then lose his father, but he was still such a kind person with a huge heart. 

Dominica is an independent island in the Caribbean. It is small, and many people who are born there stay there their entire lives. They have no other option. In 2017, the beautiful island was devastated by Hurricane Maria, and has been working to recover ever since. Because it is an independent island, Dominica doesn’t have support from wealthier countries and has been working alone to recover from the hit. Many people were left without a home, or with very little of their home left. People moved into houses made from tarps or trash that they could find along the island. Some used boats that had washed ashore or old, abandoned train cars. We were there to provide relief to the people on the island and to run a program for the kids living there. 

Spending three weeks on this island got me thinking – maybe the happiest people aren’t the richest, but the people who can see beauty in anything. Even though they may not have a lot, they have each other. Maybe that’s all a person really needs in life.