EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

Aside from the extensive workload mentioned in the previous blog, other commitments take precious time for staff. One is the fuel dock. Esperanza has a government-sanctioned diesel and gas depot for boats. Unfortunately it’s not self-serve! We have just enough traffic from sports fishermen, nearby fish farms, and commercial vessels to keep us on guard, but not for a staffer to stay at the fuel dock. We have a horn that sounds throughout the campus, and someone has to immediately drop his or her task and get to the dock. It is often a pleasure to chat with the ‘outside world’, asking how the fishing – usually salmon – is going.  But the fuel dock is a time commitment.

Another is operating the boat and dealing with water traffic back and forth to Zeballos or Tahsis, the two predominantly 1^st Nations communities where we pick up or drop off staff or visitors and get basic supplies, as well as refill propane tanks, check Esperanza mail at the Post Office, etc. There is often a boat trip per day, which can take hours. Another time commitment.

Another uniqueness to Esperanza is the lack of social media. We do have internet, but it is expensive and not on-demand.  Streaming video is not recommended. The entire communication system is fragile. In today’s world, this alone eliminates some from considering a long term commitment to Esperanza. 

So you may ask why I am at Esperanza, embrace the lifestyle, and may consider this my ‘second home’. I have had a few quiet evenings to ponder this. Several reasons: The lifestyle is simpler, more genuine, more basic. I appreciate the lack of intrusive social media. It reminds me of my years overseas, working in projects that were ‘off grid’. Maybe those years in Africa prepared me for this!

Esperanza is also a quiet refuge from the ‘weirdness’ of the 2020-21 COVID testing, vaccination, masking, and lockdown – with ever-changing restrictions. Our location allows both natural isolation and amnesty as the medical-political-social battle is waged in legislatures, courts, schools, and living rooms across our land. Esperanza is a reprieve, a sense of normalcy in a crazy world. A place to breath freely.

The work here is worthwhile and supports a facility that has served the NW Vancouver Island region for 80+ years. I stand on the broad shoulders of countless that have gone before. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out problems, and learning new things. The beauty of Esperanza is breathtaking and sometimes I feel as to be living close to heaven. I enjoy meeting visitors — at the fuel dock, floatplane dock, or overnighters. But mostly, I am ‘called’ to be here. Part of this is my faith – that Creator God gives everyone gifts, and mine is service in the areas of tinkering. General maintenance and repair. I feel at home with tasks that cry out to be addressed. Challenges which sometimes I win; sometimes I lose and wait for another to offer help… or undue my mistake!

A question that I am often asked — above my volunteer pay grade — is the vision for Esperanza. It began as a faith-based hospital serving loggers and 1^st Nations for 40 years. Outreach medical work continued for a couple more decades. More recently it served as a ‘recovery center’ with in house programs for those addressing drug and alcohol additions. It has served 1^st Nations youth as a summer camp for decades. Faith-based Men’s or Women’s retreats are not uncommon. It has been a welcoming respite and renewal place for many guests. (Some thinly disguised as fishermen in these salmon-teaming waters!)

These two years of CoV have not solidified a long term vision, but it has allowed a necessary pause to seek guidance. The vision has still not solidified. Many are praying. My sense is that, regardless of the long term horizon, Esperanza will be here. The buildings will remain. The facilities will be useful. My calling is to assist in the humble maintenance roll, in this obscure dot of Vancouver Island, of BC, of Canada. And I am thankful to be here. To play a small part.  The isolation, the tasks, the long days are not a sacrifice. To serve at Esperanza, I am honored. I am called. I am blessed.

Thanks for reading.