The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

IT’S been four weeks since Hurricane Dorian pummeled the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, and many hurricane victims are trying to get back to a normal routine.

This is the case for some 47 UB North students who traveled to Virginia last week to continue their academic studies abroad. Among them is Kristoff Strachan, a junior currently majoring in history at Hampton University.

Mr Strachan, 23, said he was staying in South Bahamia, Freeport when the monstrous storm hit last month, ultimately changing the trajectory of his life.

“It was a very harrowing and traumatic experience. I was standing on our balcony when I saw the water come in and I remember telling my family that we may have to go because the water is coming,” he said. “Fortunately, or weirdly I should say, the water only came up to our step and stopped but right across the streets by our neighbours, the water was past their cars.”

After witnessing the destruction in Freeport caused by Dorian, Mr Strachan said he initially decided to drop out of school. He was studying geography and history at UB North before the monster storm destroyed the facility.

“I studied at UB in Nassau for two semesters and to be honest, having just come back from Nassau, I was just ready to drop out. I figured I was done with Nassau. I have a mom who is sick with cancer and that’s why I transferred to UB North so I was helping to take care of her and with everything that was happening, I was just ready to quit and then the whole Hampton thing came up and my first thought was, is this even legitimate?” he said.

In the aftermath of Dorian, Hampton University, a historically black institution in the US, offered to enrol displaced UB students so they could continue their studies. They were offered free enrollment as well room and board for one semester, and will have the option to stay at Hampton once the semester is over at regular rates for tuition and fees.

For some students, the choice to transfer to Hampton was one they couldn’t easily refuse. However, for others, the decision to study at the institution was as not as simple.

Tàbia Williams, 19, said: “After the storm, mentally I wasn’t there. My mind frame was far away from school. I just didn’t want to continue at the time. I felt like I needed a break because it was so much going on, not that I had much loss. The storm just was a lot to take in. It was my parents who really pushed me to take the Hampton route.”

Tomorrow will make a week since Ms Williams, Mr Strachan and many other Bahamian students started their journey at Hampton and the support thus far has been overwhelming.

“For instance, we had a church reach out to us yesterday to assess our needs to determine what they could give us in terms of anything. A lot of people have been giving us clothes and toiletries. This church has even said as simple as if we wanted stuff to decorate our rooms. Whatever we wanted, they would try to get to us. There was a barber shop and two barbers came to out the hall yesterday evening and they gave all the guys who wanted to get haircuts free haircuts. So, for the most part, everyone has been pretty welcoming and accommodating,” Mr Strachan told The Tribune.

Although the journey has not been easy for him, Mr Strachan remains hopeful that everything will work out.

“We can’t focus on every negative outcome of hurricanes because despite Dorian, the opportunity (to attend Hampton University) was extended to 600 students from The Bahamas and that in itself is amazing. This is a first for a lot of us and the furthest many of us have been from home so it’s a new experience,” he said.