How an airport helped ignite a revolution

On Sunday we went on a drive up the island to visit a bunch of locations including Pearls air field.

Pearls, located in Grenville had until 1984 been the primary airport for Grenada. It is about a 30-40 minute drive through a very windy and steep mountain pass to St. George's where almost all the islands hotels were and still are. Further you could only fly in during the day because of the mountains behind it and the ocean in front of it. So if you wanted to come from the Americas or Europe you had to fly into Trinidad and Tobago, stay overnight and then take an island hopper to get to Pearls.

Former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was convinced that if he built a proper airport in Grenada that tourists would come, jobs would be created both in construction and tourism and in general  a better experience would be had in getting to Grenada. He began plans for a 10,000 foot airport in St. George's. This was largely financed by the Cuban government, with their engineers and skilled workers. However as the project neared completion the government was rapidly running out of money. Bishop also reaches out to "Brother Gadhafi" to help finish the project:

"The airport is of extreme importance to our revolutionary process. It's (sic) completion and official opening on March 13, 1984, the 5th Anniversary of our Revolution will be a striking victory over U.S. imperialism which has worked and continues to work relentlessly to stop the advances of the Grenadian Revolutionary process."

The US then accuses Grenada of creating an airport that could be used for military purposes and as a refuelling point for Russian planes. Grenada strongly denied this and pointed out that of the 11 criteria for a military runway the only criteria Point Salines airport was going to meet was length!

After the invasion of Grenada U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz held a press conference on 7 February 1984 during which he said -

From my standpoint, having landed there [at Point Salines] and looked around, it certainly is a facility that is needed here and, one way or another, I'm sure will be completed

Sigh.

So the airport was completed with funds from the US($19 Million) and $6 Million USD from Canada.

In 2009 the Point Salines airport was renamed in the honour of the man whose vision it was to have an international airport and who ultimately died to have it completed. Maurice Bishop.

Peals was abandoned along with the remnants of the Cuban supply planes that ferry workers and materials to build Point Salines. While it's current occupants of cows and goats seem to love the place, hopefully it gets reclaimed. There is a lot of potential in the north of Grenada- where a lot of the chocolate is made and a serviceable airfield might help with export of their amazing cocoa.

A Day Free of Pain

This morning I woke up and got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to put on the kettle for tea and coffee. Sounds pretty mundane but for months just getting out of bed was a task and putting the kettle on almost impossible.

Up until today getting out of bed meant trying to figure out how to get to a sitting position. My wrists were so sore that trying to push myself up was painful. Rolling over and trying to use my "core" would only work if my core was more cement less Jello. So getting upright was about trying to balance the pain. Once upright then it was on to the actual standing. My knees were so sore that putting pressure on them was excruciating. Which would lead to the next problem, since I would lurch onto my feet I was often unstable. The weight shifting to my ankles and feet was no better as they would both scream under the new pressure. I would take tiny steps until my joints loosen up enough to shuffle.

We have two bathrooms: ours, a large bathroom with a tub and enclosure and the boys with a concrete shower. It was impossible to use ours two reasons. The first I couldn't get my knees over the bathtub to step into the shower. The second there are no walls near the toilet so I couldn't use anything to help me sit down or stand up. So off to the boys bathroom where I could at least use the facilities. However most days turning on the shower was painful as my hands would be so stiff trying to turn the knob took two hands. Putting a kettle on impossible- filling it with water and lifting it would have resulted in disaster. So for months Brent has made my tea every morning because I couldn't do it myself.

This morning I was positively gliding across the kitchen to make tea and coffee which garnered comments from everyone. Being pain free lasted for our car ride, our walk along the ocean, up to Leapers Hill and into dinner. I have never been so grateful to my body or probably the pharmacist Brent got medicine from yesterday.

I feel a mix between terror and hopefulness. What if this is just one good day and tomorrow I won't be able to move again? But then what if this is the turning point where I start to get better?

Here people are very religious, and I know they would say give it to God. I tend to be more spiritual and I know that my pain is a lesson, my relief is a lesson and whatever comes next will be a lesson too. I can do my best to make the conditions favourable for a recovery, but ultimately it will happen when it is supposed to happen.

In the meantime I am going to do some yoga while my body is in a giving mood!