Where oh where Wednesday: Sint Maarten

On September 6, 2017 hurricane Irma passed over the tiny island of Sint Maarten. In English, the island is called Saint Martin, but the island is actually French and Dutch. One half of the island is French and French-speaking, the other half is administered by the Dutch and officially speaks Dutch and English. In practice the lingua franca is English. 

This island has been populated for thousands of years, for the past 800 years by the Arowak and later the Carib. The latter called the island Salt island. Columbus discovered the island in 1493 when he landed on November 11, which is why it is named Saint Martin (the feast of Saint Martin is still celebrated in places in the Netherlands on November 11). The island was split up in its current form in the 17th century between the French and Dutch kingdoms.

On that terrible day in 2017, most of the Dutch half of the island was destroyed. Queen Juliana Airport was wiped out and people across the island had to struggle for weeks and months, trying to recover. Although the island originally was known for its salt-waning, both sides of the island survive and thrive with tourism. 

Sint Maarten, the Dutch half of the island, chose in 2010 to become a separate country under the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This gave them a bit more freedom to choose to direct their affairs as they desired while retaining important links with the Netherlands. It meant that, when the hurricane came, there was still some help. 

In Maastricht we remember that year because we reached out to help however we could. Some of us in the congregation knew people on the island. We had a group that could help with sending and receiving funds. There was a congregation on the island that was already helping those hit hardest. The church building there had been devastated. So we as a congregation helped where we could. 

This year the Queen Juliana Airport on Sint Maarten was officially opened, 7 years after the devastation of Irma. The airport had been working as well it could since the disaster, but now it has been completely renewed. Perhaps we will one day have the chance to visit and meet our brothers and sisters there.