Tortola Day 5

I saw some wonderful sights today; but as I said yesterday I think that a series of glorious blips neither respects or records the real reason I'm here.
I had a late start, this is a deeply religious island and course participants wouldn't attend if it clashed with church. So I used the time to tour the island and visit some of the sites the Red Cross have been working, to find a better understanding of why I'm here.
Since I arrived its been clear this is a place of immense wealth, but it's also a place where that wealth isn't shared or indeed used wisely. Being a tax haven is attractive for a few, but doesn't build fairness or resilience. It's a fragile existence. Since I've arrived I've been told there are 25000 people living here. 800 of them can vote. Whilst there are 25k people there are 800k registered companies. None of those companies pay tax, so none of those companies contribute in any way I can see. Simply they attract the rich, who would normally would spend profusely injecting revenue into the economy, but since the hurricane they've just not returned and that economy has died. The front street looks almost OK, but take a turn off that main road and its a very different story.

The main blip is hard to comprehend, I've worked in construction and don't know how this is still standing. But that's not the difficult bit. This is still a working shop, and where the owners live.

In the extras are boats and homes. Boats are the income, work and lifeblood of these islands. Everywhere they are beached, smashed and sunk, I've seen hundreds, possibly thousands ruined and abandoned. The buildings in extras are all being lived in.

The other extra shows some of the local beauty.

Finished late and am on the stupidly early ferry to Anegada in the morning. Five passes, five fails. I've offered to do an extra session one evening to allow the fails to get to the required hours and to sit the tests again.
I didn't do that for them, but rather in the hope they'll maybe go on the help some of the folk I met today.

Footnote; P&Y did a 2km swim & 2.5km SUP across a big bay as part of a fundraising event for VISAR. Sounds awesome and puts my recent pool swims to shame!