— Guyanese from 2019 Bahamas hurricane going strong
—encourage Guyanese to be resilient during COVID-19

IN less than a year, the Simons have been a part of two major crises but neither has hindered their determination or snuffed out their faith. On September 30, 2019, Cecil and Olive Simon arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with nothing but two small suitcases.

Fleeing the ruins of Category Five hurricane Dorian that had hit The Bahamas, they were welcomed home by the Government of Guyana. Before that day, Cecil and Olive had spent 23 years building a life as teachers on the island nation.

“That’s a long time,” Cecil told the newspaper on Sunday, as he reminisced on how he and his wife had worked their way up the ladder towards becoming well-accepted teachers.

Cecil started off as a primary school teacher and later moved on to teach English Language, History and Literature to High School students after graduating from university.

Meanwhile, Olive was trained as an Infant Education teacher and also studied Primary Education at the university level, last working as a primary school teacher.

Since being back, Cecil has applied to teach in Guyana’s education system but the elections impasse has slowed the process. He now works part-time as a teacher at the Morgan's Learning Centre (MLC), while Olive has made the choice not to work.

It has not been easy, but he is happy for the sturdy base of his family here in Guyana. Cecil is also pleased that, now with the COVID-19 pandemic, he is closer to his family here in Guyana in one of the world’s most challenging times.

“Look how things happened, we moved from one crisis and then something else occurred. Even if we had remained in The Bahamas, we could not have worked because it’s the same scenario of having to do teaching through e-learning,” he said.

“It’s a blessing in disguise…everything happens for the best in God’s own time. It’s more time spent with family. You get to value family time much more.”

With the COVID-19 measures in place, they are making use of their land space where they have successfully planted a thriving kitchen garden which supplies them with a range of vegetables.

They have no plan to return to The Bahamas as they believe that there is so much they can do right at home rather than elsewhere. They also believe that Guyana is now in a much better state than when they left Buxton 23 years ago. Re-examining the hurricane, the two said that they had experienced others,but none of that magnitude.

“Our once comfortable home became a sodden mass of books or papers,broken glass and furniture along with torn, drooping drapes. The once majestic house became a leaky, shaky and moldy waste land,” the couple described it.They said that the onslaught of the storm defied every possible reparation made and surviving it will forever be their greatest testimony of God’s presence in their lives.

In a message to Guyanese and who may feel as if they cannot get through the current COVID-19 crisis, the couple said that nothing is impossible with God.“I believe that in every situation you should put God first. I think what brought us out of that situation in The Bahamas safely is because we did put God first,”
Olive said. “Our bedroom was untouched all because of prayers being sent up there. There are going to be challenges and difficulties, but put your faith and trust in God and he will see you through.”

Meanwhile, Cecil said that the biggest lesson he learnt from his first major crisis was the importance of life. He said that he and his wife could have lost their lives. The fact that they survived is testimony to God’s work.

In his advice to Guyanese in the current crisis, he said: “Trust in God and trust the people who have been entrusted with powers in terms of ruling over you to make the right decisions. Follow whatever instructions have been given to you and you’ve got to hope and pray that the people in authority over you make the right decisions. That’s all we’ve got to pray for.”