Letters To The Editor: A Wish For Christmas

Reader Bob White writes that he received a “Christmas wish” in the form of a letter from a “lonely Cruzan in a very foreign land.” The letter, Bob says, was sent “from a young Cruzan to his family and friends,” a former HOVENSA employee who has been away from home for more than a year to find work . It is a prayer and a hope for a chance to come home.

Dear Mom, Grandmother and the entire family,  Merry Christmas.

Here in this desert country Christmas is not a holiday and not even recognized as an important thing. Here people are polite but not friendly. Local people are suspicious of us and treat us OK but not in a good way. Lucky for me two other Cruzan guys from Hovensa got a job here too and we share pictures and memories of our beloved home on beautiful St. Croix. Here, the sand blows all the time and there are no green hills to look at. We miss having bullfoot soup and kallaloo and, yes, a cold beer, too. I know I should not complain, some of the guys from the refinery left to work in more difficult places than this, but it still hurts. A number of us keep in touch and we heard that the refinery might open.

Could you find out how we get our names put on the list to get back in? One of my friends said it is not sure that our Senate will open the plant for us again. Why? I want to come home. Please tell them that loyal and true Cruzans miss their home. I do not want to return to find that only a job at McDonald’s is all that is available. We are trained in the refinery business and love it. We know what we are doing and want to give our knowledge and experience to our own island. I had not realized how much we had learned at Hovensa ’till we started working over here. Workers from all over the world are here on the job, but we outshine many of them in what we know and how we work. Safety here is not very important. Back home safety is number one. It almost seems that they don’t care if they send us home in a bag or in an airplane seat.

Don’t worry, Mom, I’m careful; it’s the other guys who are not. I had not realized how careful you must be when most of the people around you think differently than you. I now better understand how some of the people who come to our island feel with us sometimes.

Well, dear family and friends back home, happy holidays and a blessed Christmas to all. My Christmas wish is to come home and work.

Love,

Your son

Delivered by Bob White, St. Croix

The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the staff and management of the VI Consortium.