The Islands That Refuse To Quit
“I’ve found overall that the children have bounced back easily. In their first three weeks back to school, that was the recovery stage where they got to speak about the hurricane, about their experiences, how they felt, how they feel.”
—Lavern Blyden, Principal on Jost Van Dyke
I carefully step around a pile of debris and rusty nails on the ground, stopping in front of what remains of a small yellow church. Its roof and windows are gone, scattered up the hillside by 150-plus-mph winds. The interior has been cleared out, save for a small, waterlogged bible sitting in a puddle in the corner. I look through the windows and admire the rolling green hillside to the left, and, to the right, some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen. It’s impossible to imagine just how beautiful it was before Irma. I try anyway.
Off in the distance I hear the faint sound of children singing. The school’s 27 students—down from 50 before the storm— stand under a white UNICEF tent in neat lines. Wearing skirts, jeans, sandals,
