By J.P. Antonacci | The Hamilton Spectator
With Jamaica’s airports still closed in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, hundreds of Jamaican farm workers are stuck in Ontario’s Norfolk County awaiting a flight home.
Many have not been able to contact their loved ones since the hurricane knocked out much of the island nation’s power grid on Tuesday.
“Most of the workers are in the dark,” said apple farmer Chris Hedges, whose 140 migrant workers were scheduled to fly home within the week but have seen numerous flights cancelled. “A lot of workers come from the hardest-hit area between Kingston and Montego Bay.”
“Some have made contact and found that their homes have been destroyed. Three that we know of,” Hedges said, adding other workers learned high winds had ripped off the metal roofs of their homes. “I was on some farms last night and people are just worried,” farm worker advocate Leanne Arnal told The Spectator on Wednesday. “They’re worried for people back home. Their homes and lives are never going to be the same.”
Arnal and her husband are personally anxious to reach friends and family on the island, but have thus far not had any luck.
“I’m married to a Jamaican, so it’s difficult not being able to hear from family and find out what’s going on,” Arnal said.
Arnal is a settlement navigator with the Simcoe office of Catholic Community Services of York Region. She said the organization plans to facilitate phone-based and on-farm mental health counselling and stress management workshops for the affected workers.
“It’s a fine line between keeping your mind busy and working, because there’s nothing you can do about the situation, and the worry that’s connected with that,” Arnal said. “We just want to make sure that we’re offering support.”
Arnal also plans to organize a drop-in prayer session this week akin to those her group offered throughout the summer on Friday nights at a Simcoe church.
“Usually we have about 50 men who drop in as they’re doing groceries,” Arnal said. “It’s great for mental health.” Hedges said his employees are working “to keep their minds off things back home,” but are eager to return to their families and assess the situation “just as soon as conditions allow.”
