THOUGH Hurricane Melissa barrelled through Denver Hibbert’s property in St Andrew East Rural, taking with it crops, livestock and his donkey, the farmer has chosen to focus his efforts on helping his colleagues get back on their feet.

The owner of a front-end loader, Hibbert has been attempting to reopen access routes in Flamstead, Good Hope and surrounding areas — communities in which farmers who have already sustained damage to their produce are unable to access or reap their surviving coffee cherries, resulting in further loss.

“They can’t come out because of the blockage of the road,” Hibbert told the Jamaica Observer last Tuesday on his way to those communities. “I was driving there and we went there and see the coffees on the ground, because of the state of the road, all their livelihood is wasting. So, I’m trying to get this [tractor] back out there to clear their farm road so that they can get their stuff out.”

Hibbert told the Sunday Observer that last Tuesday’s journey, alongside a small team of men, began long before sunrise — at three in the morning — with them trying to reach the many farmers who have contacted him for assistance.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Hibbert. “If they pick the coffee, they have to lift it on their head for about five, six miles; and they are raising donkey loads on their head, and when I see that, I crack.

“So I just want the road to clear so that I can drive there at their farm and pick up their stuff,” he said, explaining that he is also prepared to transport their produce to the factory at no cost to them.

However, mechanical issues with the front-end loader had delayed their progress last Tuesday, as the vehicle left them stuck in the corner of a winding road in the hilly terrain of Dublin Castle. The heavy machine, though bought with the intention of assisting farmers, was left idle for about six months resulting in hydraulic line leaks and corroded fittings.

So the clearing of farm roads, which was meant to commence in the wee hours of last Tuesday morning, had been stalled to 12:00 pm, but Hibbert’s determination never waned.

Hard at work to get the tractor moving again, he noted that even with his help, the farmers would need more assistance to quickly respond to the crisis of overripe crops.

“I hope that this reaches someone who can help us to assist these farmers because it’s a great place and we need some help there to create some more infrastructure that the farmers can be more effective than they are now…Right now, if I could just even get a backhoe or a next tractor to come and assist the farmers, it would be appreciated,” he said.

Hibbert, who was keen on keeping the focus on the vulnerable farmers, spoke with a silent insistence of someone who was familiar with loss. Though he rarely talked about his own needs, he had plenty.

Last year, while he was overseas, Hurricane Beryl washed away one of his seven acres of coffee. And, Hurricane Melissa was not kinder to him. Among the casualties after the October 8 onslaught were the roof of his goat house, several goats and a donkey that had been with him for 20 years.

“God never give us more than we can bear and I said this morning, God is testing me to see how strong I am to go forward with this farm, because I’m seeking more lands to lease, to change from that spot that got washed away. So I’m looking like…40 acres of land to do more farming… On the brighter end, I’m just remaining positive and conscious to embrace what is to come next,” said a smiling Hibbert.

He told the Sunday Observer that he refuses to dwell on the negatives, saying that he is grateful that he has life and can help others.

“My message to all the farmers out there is to take courage. The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, and all that dwell therein, and the Earth rewards us as farmers. We know that in this moment that we experienced with Melissa, it brings so much pain and heartache, but I’m just saying we can come back, we can rise, and we can be better as farmers if we stick together and be as one,” he said.

Besides helping to clear farm roads, Denver Hibbert says he is also prepared to transport his affected colleagues’ coffee crop to the factory using his pickup.