The North Carolina coast is a disaster area. A vast army of relief helpers have mobilized to assist our States-side neighbors. Presidential disaster designations assure that U.S. victims of Floyd will be helped. As serious and devastating as this tragedy is, as the flood waters recede, help is poised to move in.
But a much less visible group of hurricane victims need our help. This special 'post-Floyd' issue of Rants and Raves focuses on the small business community in and around Hope Town on Elbow Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.
As most of the U.S. East Coast prepared for the worst from Hurricane Floyd, we watched in horror as the eye of this massive storm passed right through the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. For ten hours, they were battered. Wind gusts were clocked at over 200 mph, and Elbow Cay, the island in the Abacos that we know best, was cut in two from the battering winds, crushing surf and 10 foot storm surge.
As folks crawled out of their emptied freshwater cistern shelters, the devastation hit hard. No power, no phones, no water, and little food to go around. Many roofs, docks, and houses destroyed -- some were gone, washed out to sea. As for boats -- commercial, fishing, and pleasure -- some were badly damaged, some slammed up into mangroves and now sit among the trees, some are sunk to the bottom where docks used to be.
A place where you learn to take nothing for granted
The Abacos stretch 130 miles over some of the most incredible sailing water in the world. Miles of coral beaches and scores of uninhabited cays and quaint harbors with friendly people make this location a paradise to savor.
Tourism is the big industry. From November to June the Abacos are busy with folks who come here to sail, fish and vacation. But this isn't Nassau, and it isn't Freeport. When you come to the Abacos, you entertain yourself. There are no casinos, professional performers, fancy department stores, big hotels, lifeguards on the beach, or babysitting services.
A page on an Abacos website titled "Abaco is not for sissies" absolutely says it all. Life in the Abacos is generally small town beach life and good, but unsophisticated food and local amenities.
The Abacos are historically different from other areas in The Bahamas.
Settled in the 17th and 18th centuries by immigrants from Great Britain and Loyalists fleeing the U. S. after the American Revolution, these hardy souls brought more with them than just strong constitutions. Architecture, religion, values and perspectives from small town life in England, Scotland and New World settlements shaped the Abacos then and continue to do so now.
Even today harbors are ringed with many of the small, brightly painted, clapboard houses built by the early settlers. You can still find handmade boats and homemade furniture, and home-baked breads and "just made" pies. Yet despite the colorful history and the incredible natural beauty, it's not an easy place to have a business.
Water is scarce here, so is the fertile soil required for edible vegetation. Not much is produced directly in the area, mostly everything has to be made, caught or transported in. It is a paradise of islands with a fragile existence. Throughout Abaco history, life has never been easy. And there often has not been enough work to go around.
A community of business diversity
If you've ever lived in a small, rural community, you know the economic model that keeps many a family afloat. Combinations of business and services are painted on signs hanging out by the road: "Bill Johnson and Sons, VCR repair, Income Tax preparation, Passport photos, and Well drilling."
Rural businesses can't bet the baby on doing only This OR That. Survival often depends on the diversity of offerings and one's tenacity in the face of grand disappointment. Yet, even in the best of times, remote businesses hang by a thread of hope, and belief that hard work eventually pays off.
People in the Abacos are church-going, hard-working people. Many local families date back to the 1780s. They are self-reliant, tenacious, and widely known as self-starters. Many businesses are family owned and operated, and most families have diversified offerings -- combinations of fishing, transport, retail, rental, restaurant and charters.
A local minister we know has lived all his life in Hope Town. He operates his own well-stocked grocery store. He bakes fresh bread and key lime pies daily for his own well-known bakery and he co-writes historical booklets for tourists with a professor from Illinois. He does all this while conducting regular weekly service in his other role as lay minister to the St. James Methodist Church -- a budding nanocorper right there in Hope Town!
In the Abacos, in Hope Town, a business life like his is not unusual. It's what people do to make a living where, despite the natural beauty, it is often tough to get by.
When Hurricane Floyd hit this remote location, every single family, every single business was devastatingly affected. Having all those eggs in a diversity of baskets was suddenly no guarantee that the family or the family businesses could recover and survive.
However, in an island economy where tourism drives the revenue, only fast recovery can keep these small businesses from going under. All the elements that draw vacationers to the Abacos are still there, but the entire infrastructure that supports this small business economy must be rebuilt, immediately.
If Elbow Cay were in the U.S. massive aid would be well on the way. But in a tiny, independent spread-out, island country there isn't much to go around. And nearly every island and cay in the Bahamas was hit hard by this monstrous storm.
Hope Town's small business community needs our help.
If the information in our Secret Sauce Guide is useful to you please repay us with a donation to the Hope Town Hurricane Floyd Relief effort. (Note: The relief effort is now over. Thank you for your support.)
At this 'Hope Town B2B Relief' home page, you can learn more about the relief effort and you can make a secure on-line credit card donation to help small businesses rebuild in Hope Town. You will also find the address to mail a check if you prefer the old-fashioned way of giving.
Finally, please feel free to pass the Care-zine along to others. We only request that you pass it along in its entirety to help spread the word about how we all can help a wonderful bunch of people in a beautiful and fragile piece of paradise, Hope Town, Elbow Cay.
Floyd's history. It's all over now but the recovery. Won't you help? Thank you.
Well, one of you read between the lines and did some sleuthing. One of you chased down and purchased two VERY RELEVANT books that we had not yet added to the RIBS store.
Both books are by Mark Litwak -- a practicing entertainment law attorney and a professor at the University of West Los Angeles. Mark is well-known in the entertainment industry. Two of his published works are classics for those interested in the fine-grained details of Hollywood negotiations and contracts.
Both are timely and insightful resources for anyone envisioning a nanocorp or free agent lifestyle as we enter the 21st century.
Congratulations to you, whoever you may be. Your two new books will surely prepare you to be at the head of the first graduating class of Nanocorp U!
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