Letter of the Day | Breadfruit and hope after the storm
Published:Friday | October 31, 2025 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, our beloved Jamaica mourns. The wind’s roar has subsided, but in its silence, the cries of families who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and, heartbreakingly, loved ones still echo. Roofs lie scattered like memories; rivers continue to flow through living rooms; children sleep where walls once stood. Grief now blankets the island like the grey sky that followed the storm. Yet beneath that grief, faith flickers – tender, defiant, alive.
Pope Leo, in his prayer for the victims of the hurricane, reminded the Caribbean that “God walks with us even when the winds rage and the seas swell.” His words call us to weep honestly, to comfort one another, and to find Christ present in the mud, the shelters, and the hands that lift fallen trees. The bishops of the Antilles, in their pastoral letter In the Eye of the Hurricane, affirm that hope, though battered, “does not disappoint.”
And hope has a Jamaican face. In a story published by The Gleaner on October 30, a Kingston vendor offered free roasted breadfruit to volunteers cleaning the streets. That single act – a woman offering warmth from her coal pot to tired workers – is our Gospel in action. It shows: even amid loss, we still have something to give.
Our resilience is not denial; it is love in action. We have always found ways to make laughter a form of healing. After Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, the song Wild Gilbert made us laugh through tears. Before Melissa, humour again danced across social media – not to mock danger, but to steady the soul.
Still, laughter and love must be matched by learning. Too often our hurricane response is episodic, not systematic. To honour the dead and protect the living, I propose that every May be declared Hurricane Preparedness Week – a time when government, local councils, and families act on a national checklist of readiness, with accountability built into law. Preparedness must become our second nature, not our afterthought.
Finally, we commend Prime Minister Holness and Opposition Leader Golding for coming together before the storm with a unified purpose. May they meet again – to rebuild not only infrastructure but also trust, solidarity, and the nation’s soul.
Our hearts are heavy and broken. Out of the floodwaters, hope will rise again – warm as roasted breadfruit, shared hand to hand. St Paul reminds us, hope does not disappoint
FR DONALD CHAMBERS