EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

So good to be back at Esperanza!  As was last year, I settled in to an old nurses’ cottage called “Fanny’s”, named after perhaps the most famous nurse during the hospital years.  

The two young families from last year have now moved on. So has last year’s director and his wife. So I arrived in late April to a very sparse staff. The new director and his wife, a 1^st Nations lady, one strapping volunteer, and I complete the staff.

One advance to our communications this year has been getting STARLINK working. This small dish allows a solid internet signal at the fuel dock. Thanks Elon Musk! A far cry from last year’s intermittent signal, although internet service away from the dock is still a challenge.

We so far have had several work or retreat groups, and one 8-day week of camp. This is due to the travel and logistics of camps for 3,4, or 5 days. My default role with maintenance continues this season.  One big change this year is that I also became the go-to person handling the fuel dock. Fun to interact with the fishermen and other boaters, from far and wide. Some gorgeous vessels of all shapes and sizes. And expensive. With this new role, some of the maintenance tasks slowed, or completing them became disjointed.

My typical day this season at off-the-grid Esperanza is:

• 7AM  turn on diesel generator
• turn on Starlink, computer, and  AccuPOS register at the dock for fuel and bait store sales.
• Do the “trap run”: ie check mouse traps in almost every building (10ish) ….there is  a difference in quality of mouse traps and I am sort of an expert these days…J  I always wanted to be a “Canadian trapper”!
• Breakfast of grits (corn meal), egg, and smoked salmon (if possible!) Coffee on!
• Maintenance tasks in shop…or wherever…and listening for fuel dock horn, and jumping into side-by-side Kuboto to respond.
• Turn off generator about 11 AM if staffers agree…turn on small Honda generator for power at fuel dock
• Coffee and afternoon tasks around the campus…
• Turn on big generator about 5:30ish…evening tasks…
• 7PM (6PM after Labor Day) close fuel dock and do cash register close-out.
• Supper / maybe visit with someone…
• 11PM generator off. Candles and radio until bedtime.

But no day is typical. Work groups and church retreats can completely change the routine.  But they were usually helpful and lovely visitors with whom I enjoy chatting. It can get lonesome here, even with a nighttime AM radio! One of my worthwhile roles is getting projects – materials and tools – arranged for work groups to make their time more efficient.

The director is a pastor — well organized, a visionary, a hard worker…. and often gone…sometimes funerals for several days at a time. He is very well respected on this west coast necklace of islands and speaks the languages fluently. At funerals and occasional weddings, and other interaction with locals, he faithfully delivers a message of hope to many who need Christ’s hope. He also encourages Esperanza as a place of refuge for families that have suffered personal loss. He welcomes individuals and families who need a refuge of peace amid a lifestyle of chaos, which is sadly common on the reserves. Lastly he welcomes workers, usually for 2 week intervals, who are struggling with substance abuse and come to Esperanza for a place of retreat and healing — or as the director succinctly says…”beauty, order, and the Grace of God”.

My role is to move Esperanza closer toward this beauty and order. I am honored to help anchor Espy in this small part of the ministry, especially when the director is away and may be comforted to know there remains a level of stability in the community. Perhaps this is the reason that I have been away from Esperanza for only two days in three months…:)

But I would have it no other way. I love the diamond-studded water. The rhythm of the tides. The spouting humpback whales. The lofty green cliffs. The towering Douglas fir and spruce. The medley of seagull, ospreys, and eagles.  It is not a sacrifice to be here. It is home.