The roof is off, but…

My house roof was blown off about a month ago when a category 4 hurricane called Beryl hit St.Vincent and the Grenadines. I was in my personal space praying, when I felt a strong presence around the house at exactly twelve o’clock. On account of scriptural wisdom, I am aware of what Psalm 91 describes as “The destruction that wasteth at noon day.” Hence, I moved rapidly to the living room where my family was playing a game of Scrabble, which they enjoy and play often. I chided them for not being in prayer rather than simply playing a game in the face of such strong winds. Realizing, they halted, and I lead them in a period of prayer and praise, followed by holy communion (or Eucharist as some people may call it). We continued in conversation, and not long after we heard a crashing sound. It was unusual, but not explosive. We were not aware that the house roof was peeled off completely by Hurricane Beryl. When the storm died down and the wind was calm, we opened the back door to see the roof sitting on the bank above the house.

I have been thinking about this a lot since that experience. I realize that many of us live our lives in a way that mirrors my hurricane experience. What I mean by this is that many of us live our lives unaware that the roof is off, even though we are not getting wet. In my situation, we were not getting wet because the house has what is called a drop ceiling. This was common many years ago when the house was first built. The drop ceiling is what you see when you look up from inside of the house. Above it, is something of an attic, open space which is not functional as an attic and does not even allow you to stand upright. This means you are able to avoid the full impact of what happens on the roof if the roof, as in my case, is significantly damaged. Moreover, it takes a while for the ceiling to be soaked before it all falls in piece by piece. The real point of this article is to raise some questions about the Caribbean region and even moreso my awesome country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Years ago, as a young seminarian, I remember my Caribbean theology professor, the late Dr. Lewyn Williams, saying that in his early years the Caribbean Christian Council (CCC) was very active and influential in the region, including through various programmes, including social development projects. However, he said, there came a point when the political leaders of the region expressed that they did not need a Christian Council and their influence within the region diminished. Thus he concluded that the Region had surrendered its very soul by marginalizing the Region’s august religious body. In the Holy Bible, we read that “unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it; and unless the Lord watches the city the Watchman watches in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Another scripture tells us that “righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.” What this infers for us today is that a region without a solid spiritual institution to guide it will find out in time that it’s culture will become corrupt, because nature abhors a vacuum. Thus, such regions become fair game for the forces of evil and darkness. Similarly, a country like St.Vincent and the Grenadines that has managed to co-opt the institution of the church will in time discover that it has become something of a religious culture without holiness and further, without a substantive spiritual essence. We will see that in either case we have a house whose roof is off, and though we may not be getting wet, in time that water starts to pour in.

In case the reader is wondering where all of this is heading, let me give another wicked illustration and then hasten to bring home the point. I stopped in at a restaurant In Kingstown recently with my sons. While we waited in line to be served, one of them pointed out to me that the prices on the menu are the same as the prices in New York where we lived for a while. For example, a patty was seven dollars (E.C$7) and a slice of pizza was six dollars (E.C$6). Clearly we are looking at an unsustainable reality.

The first question is – How can you pay New York prices for items in a country where the wages are not equivalent to the country where you pay those prices? This means that many basic items and desired items are outside of the affordability of what may be called the average Vincentian. This also means that the cost of production may be much higher. In many cases items that are sold are imported items meaning that taxes may possibly be far higher than they should be on select items. On a visit to any supermarket in Kingstown, one can see that the price for food is astronomical.

The second question is – How are people actually surviving in SVG? How long will it take before the whole bubble bursts? In all of this, there is the question of remittances in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Remittances to St. Vincent and the Grenadines equal 71.4 million dollars or almost 10% of the economy. This indicates that Vincentians abroad are propping up the economy significantly. This prompts the question of why Vincentians living abroad are not allowed to vote in the national elections despite their contribution to the country’s economy being so outstanding. This is a political question which should be raised at another time. Nevertheless, the point here is that a country that is so heavily dependent on remittances from overseas is a country that lacks a strong manufacturing industry domestically. This further indicates the absence of sufficient raw material available to be converted into by-products. A dependent economy can be played with in times of crisis (whether real or created crisis).

So the ultimate question is: Are we looking at a house whose roof is off? And are we just not getting wet as yet because sufficient rain has not soaked our ceiling? We need to examine these questions and get vex enough to press the political class to bring the country to a point where it can exhale from this tight economic constraint and release the unhealthy dependence and pressured expectation that is applied to Vincentians abroad to send funds home.

Dillon Burgin: Apostle, playwright, author and entrepreneur.