Gaygay is longing to go home

Editor: The call was urgent. The tone of voice was very serious and demanding: “Pick up Gaygay.” It was not one to be refused. She is accustomed to dealing with emergencies, travelling with critical patients to hospital overseas to ensure their survival. Survival is the key word here as Hurricane Beryl was approaching and the eye was heading directly to Union Island. As the local head of NEMO, she took her responsibility seriously and had to ensure that all the vulnerable people were taken from their hazardous homes to a sturdy shelter. District Nurse, Monifer Chambers-Webb knew her responsibility as the local head of the National Emergency Management Organization would require all of her time. It was more than being on call, she had to be on the ball.

Who was assigned to “Rapete, Abukai and Steffanus, to ensure their safety? Bert thought he was safe at home but his life might have been saved if he did not have to wait 30 hours to get to hospital in St. Vincent. Perhaps they could have been saved from the fury of Beryl that some say was a category 4 storm that shouted, “roof” as it decapitated all the buildings on the island.

Thus, it was that Gaygay took her guitar, her prized possession as I collected her on Sunday afternoon, June 30th, 2024. After the storm she gave me her keys to go and see the damage done to her house that was no longer standing. Although, a woman of vision, Gaygay is blind. Nevertheless she took her cutlass, went to the location of her house and did some personal clean up work. She wanted to “see” for herself what had happened. She has since retrieved sea moss, a rocking chair, some garden tools and her steel pan.

Her playing indicates that the pan definitely needs tuning which she attempts to do herself. This contrasts with the harmonious tunes of her guitar as she composes her own tunes or plays and sings old familiar songs.

Neighbours sang along who had joined in the aftermath of Beryl, but these moved out after two weeks. Would they have survived what I call Gaygay’s Music that they many call Noise?

Although she is one to make herself comfortable anywhere, she longs to return to her own home. She missed her garden, fruit trees, proximity to the beach and weekly visits by home attendants.

Although she is thankful for this shelter, she longs to be sheltered under her own roof.

Anthony G. Stewart, PhD