The long road to recovery

The truth about life is that we live in a volatile environment. There is a constant battle with the forces of nature that threaten our survival. Every year, there are earthquakes, hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions, yet we continue with life, sometimes forgetting how volatile our environment is. This list is just the natural disasters. As if natural disasters aren’t enough, we have a plethora of man-made disasters that we add to the mix – global warming, water and air pollution, excessive hunting and fishing, man-made sicknesses, alcoholism and drug addiction. It is amazing that we continue to thrive as a species amid this combination of natural and man-made disasters. Yet we press on, finding ways to coexist with nature, finding ways to recover from our self-inflicted wounds. Which brings me to the current dilemma of COVID-19, which some say is either a natural pandemic or a man-made pandemic, while others say it is a combination of the two. I am not in a position to judge either way, so I will leave that to experts who can provide us with evidence on either side. What I can say is that we have experienced a challenge of epic proportions that will take us a while to recover from, hence the title of this column, “The long road to recovery”.

Since March, The Bahamas has gone through several cycles – lock down, open up, partial lockdown, open up, modified lockdowns, curfews, restrictions and relaxation of restrictions – all in an effort to recover from the blow of COVID-19.

COVID-19 has been a blow everywhere, but especially The Bahamas where we depend on vacationers to help us live comfortable lives. When I checked the per capita income for the region of sovereign nations, only the United States of America (USA) and Canada ranked higher than The Bahamas. We are blessed. The per capita income of The Bahamas was listed as $33,000. Compare that to Barbados ($19,000), Jamaica ($9,000), Trinidad ($33,000) and Cuba ($8,500), and you get the picture that we have benefitted from proximity to the USA and our tourism product.

Trinidad has oil, so they have a valuable resource that no other Caribbean country has, and this has pushed their GDP (gross domestic product) higher – especially in recent times prior to the current flop in oil prices. Because of our reliance (and I am not one to say it is a bad thing; tourism is our go-to product) on tourism, we are especially vulnerable to the current natural disaster we are experiencing. We need to diversify our economy, but tourism is a great product that can continue to be expanded. Our dependence on tourism also means that the road ahead could be a long one to recovery.

I am by no means a proponent of doom and gloom and I would love to be surprised by a swift and powerful recovery that blows us all away. Will that happen? It is currently unlikely, but not impossible. What is likely is that we face a long road to recovery.

We first have to get the virus spread under control, gradually open our economy, being very careful not to do too much, and pray that there is a cure, vaccine or natural dissipation of the virus. We don’t know which it will be, so we have to prepare for the long road. That means we must be patient and take everything in stride, one step at a time, until we begin to see a return to pre-COVID-19 conditions.

We have to both temper expectations and lift hopes of a people who have been traumatized. A better day is coming – but it may take a few more days to get there.

A few long days, a few agonizing nights, but eventually the sun shines again, and the days of COVID-19 will be discussed like war stories of old.

Only those who have been through it truly will understand.

Hopefully, it is the last one because in a volatile environment, we are not certain that there are no other pandemics on the horizon. We hope and pray that there are not, but realize that none of us can issue a guarantee.

In life, you have to work with what you have. You go to war with the army you have because the army you wish you had had no bullets. We plod on, trusting in our leaders to make the right decisions to get us through.

There is national responsibility and then there is personal responsibility.

While we monitor our national leaders and health officials and hold them accountable to do the right thing, we also have to hold ourselves accountable individually to make the right choices that will put us in the best position to recover.

I have been doing my part and encouraging others to do so. I don’t know if masks work or not – but without evidence to the contrary, I follow the guidelines. I do not want my business to close, but I comply because there is a larger goal to achieve. I hate the opening and closing of church, but we go online for the good of the country. We all want to recover but we cannot pretend that it is easy or certain.

It is likely that tourists will be returning in smaller numbers at first, which means less dollars in circulation to fuel the economy and which also means that we have less disposable income. We have to be patient, spend less, budget more, become innovative and creative and do some things for ourselves that we used to pay others to do. Everyone must do their part for us to achieve the goal. There was an old saying when I was growing up that said, “The more we work together, the happier we will be.” It went on to say, “For your friends are my friends and our friends and God’s friends.” We are in the same boat, so let’s work together as we walk the long road together. Make sure you do not put holes in the boat that delays the recovery. I look forward to the road ahead because I know what we have gone through and the long way we have to go.

• Pastor Dave Burrows is senior pastor at Bahamas Faith Ministries International. Feel free to email comments, whether you agree or disagree, to pastordaveburrows@hotmail.com. I appreciate your input and dialogue. We become better when we discuss, examine and exchange.

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