My friends, my sisters and brothers, what a blessing and joy it is to be together this morning.
Three years into our journey, our sense of awe and gratitude – that we share in the privilege of helping to write our nation’s story – has only grown.
So I am thankful for this opportunity to share a few reflections about the work we’re doing together, the hard-earned insights we’re gaining along the way, and what I believe is most important for us to achieve in the years ahead.
I begin by noting how right and fitting it is that we are commemorating this anniversary not in the halls of government power, but in a house of worship. In God’s house.
Because surely that which we are able to accomplish, is due to God.
And wherever we are falling short, we must pray for the wisdom to better discern His path.
We pray to God – but we do not pray that he does the work for us. Instead, we pray for the strength to carry out his work.
God saved Noah from the flood. But Noah still had to build the ark.
That brings me to the work we’re doing together. We are builders, too, if of a different sort.
We are building hospitals, airports, roads, housing developments, and solar power – the 21st century infrastructure, communities, and services our people deserve. And we are building programmes that lift people up – through national service, through training and apprenticeships, through sports, and scholarships, and new opportunities.
Of course, what we’re really seeking to build is a country that honours the dignity and God-given potential of every Bahamian.
That is why I began today with gratitude. What bigger privilege in the world can there be, than to engage in work of such high purpose?
The way to get through the hard days – and we have had some very hard ones, because those come with the territory – is to never lose sight of that essential truth, and the gratitude that must accompany its realisation.
We have come a long way – under the protection of God, and in partnership with the Bahamian people. Only three years on, it’s difficult to remember how bleak September of 2021 was. The economy was in tatters, our nation’s finances in freefall, our hospitals, schools, and communities in crisis.
And as we entered office, a global inflation crisis caused first by major supply chain disruptions and then by war abroad led to prices rising across the world faster than they had in more than 40 years.
You know what happened next:
We went to work.
We ended harmful, punitive policies, replacing them with policies that offered relief and renewal.
We pulled the country back from the fiscal brink.
We revitalized tourism, creating new jobs, partnerships, and investments.
We gained respect and standing on the global stage, promoted our country, stood up for fair climate finance, worked to get our country off the blacklist, brought major sporting events to The Bahamas, and strengthened partnerships to protect our borders.
We have signed dozens of labour agreements, raised the minimum wage, put free Wi-Fi in our parks, conducted a Nationwide Learning Assessment, launched innovative agriculture programmes and a new trade office, expanded Urban Renewal outreach, added 15 new ambulances to our fleet, renovated clinics, recruited health care professionals, provided grants to small businesses, increased funding to local governments in our Family Islands, and cleared a backlog of thousands of promotions in our public service.
With new courts, new bail and trial rules, and new resources, we are tackling the delays in our justice system.
We launched a National Youth Guard, the third cohort of which is already underway, and we are so proud of the young Bahamians who are stepping up to serve. Their training, which equips them to support our communities and security services during times of national emergency, is also giving them the career-ready skills they need for their own advancement.
In Grand Bahama, we brought in billions in new investment, created Beautiful Grand Bahama, launched an Incubator to encourage innovation and entrepreneurs, supported transition homes in Collab Restoration Village, and provided Orange Economy grants. And, of course, we are challenging the Grand Bahama Port Authority to live up to their obligations under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, because previous governments have given far too much and asked far too little.
And for every initiative I have just cited, there are many more – representing extraordinary work by an extraordinary team.
I am so grateful to my colleagues for their dedication and their talent, for the elbow grease and marathon work sessions, and most of all for caring so deeply. We all bear the slings and arrows that come with this work. But you keep showing up. You’re holding phone calls and Zooms at all hours. You’re collaborating across Ministries, supporting and learning from each other. You’re hanging in there when things get tough. I’m most proud when I see you run towards the hardest problems, instead of retreating – when I see you refusing to give up where your predecessors threw in the towel.
That’s how we’ve been able to make game-changing investments – in nationwide energy reforms, in improvements across our islands, and in the health, education, safety, and dreams of our people.
And let’s admit it — there is serious audacity in the scale of the ambition we have for our country. We are determined to solve problems that for decades have been treated as unsolvable. We are determined to end the band-aid approach – the patching-up, the covering-up, the giving-up.
When you take the aspirations of your people seriously, you treat apathy and passivity as sins.
Because the only way to change lives is to change the status quo.
Now, believe us, we are acutely aware of how much work remains. We have built strong foundations for progress, but we are still a long way from realizing the vision we share, of a country in which a broad swathe of Bahamian entrepreneurs and investors become the central players in our economy, and when all Bahamian families have the safety, security, and opportunities they so deserve.
I promised to share some of the lessons we’re learning along the way – and this is one of them: There are no shortcuts, to get from here to there. There are a lot of steps on the journey from Nation in Crisis to the Promised Land.
Education is a great example – we can all agree that across-the-board excellence – and lifelong learning – will be central to our national development and to advancing the dreams of our people. Many of the opportunities our children will have – and the skills they will need – when they graduate in 2030 and beyond – are likely ones we can hardly imagine today, given the pace of technological change. So we began our administration fired up about innovation and reform – and indeed, important changes are underway. But the truth is, we met in place schools that had been shuttered for years, in terrible disrepair. Thousands of children had fallen off the radar altogether. And when we opened our schools, we realized, with great heartbreak, just how many of our precious children were showing up to school hungry.
We have now served more than 150,000 hot breakfasts to our children, in a nationwide programme that continues to expand. This means our children can focus on learning, instead of their empty stomachs. We cannot feed our 6-year-olds with dreams about tomorrow – they need nutrition and love today.
So yes — we must plan for a curriculum and modern resources and an educational future that allows each student to reach for the stars – but we aren’t going to forget the importance of tuna and hot grits today.
And so it goes, across the board – we have to meet urgent needs of today, even as we keep our eyes on the horizon, and plan for that brighter future.
When we are doing this work right, we are confronting honestly the harshest realities, while still relentlessly maintaining our optimism.
We are micro-managing the details while never forgetting the big picture.
We are welcoming honest and constructive feedback, while learning to brush off toxic attacks made in bad faith.
We are celebrating our wins, while never growing complacent.
We are learning to compromise on details that are peripheral, while holding fiercely to our deepest values.
We are recognizing that despite all the risks attached to acting boldly, it is inaction that frequently represents the riskier choice, in a country hungry for transformational change.
And we are learning that if cynicism is contagious, so too are passion and excitement.
This brings me to what I believe is the most important work ahead – to inspire as many Bahamians as possible, from all walks of life, to join us in building the country we dream about.
There is nothing inevitable about what happens next for our country. I truly believe our small nation is capable of greatness, and shared prosperity, and that we can make the brave choices that get us from here to there – if we bring on board the talents and ingenuity of as many Bahamians as possible.
You may know the story about the three stonecutters, working side by side, asked to describe what they are doing: “Cutting stone,” says the first. “Earning a living,” says the second. “Building a cathedral,” says the third.
When a grandmother helps a neighbor’s child with homework, after noticing that the child returns from school every day to an empty house; when a successful businessman mentors a younger entrepreneur; when we turn abandoned lots into shared gardens; when strong and virtuous men serve as role models; when we raise our voices in encouragement rather than disparagement, we will build that cathedral together.
So I end where I started, with thanks to God, and with prayer:
May we always remember that servant leadership requires humility;
May we always align our hearts with God’s will for peace and justice;
May we remember that even though we are all too human, the work is sacred:
May God help us cultivate curiosity, so that we are always learning, and help us hear the music through the noise;
May God help us see that what presents in another as anger is often anguish, and grant us the grace to respond with compassion;
May God help us meet the hardest challenges with strength and resolve;
May God grant strength of spirit and courage of heart to all of our people;
May God continue to nurture in us the audacity to dream big;
And May God Bless every one of you, and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.