Puerto Rico Se Levanta Poco Un Poco
Over one year later, Puerto Rico still rebuilds, amidst brokenness, isolation, oncoming storms, and power failure.
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, devastating the island. Cari Lu Alvardo, Director for Light Up Puerto Rico (LUPR), says “Puerto Rico is strong. We are rebuilding. But we will never be the same. We are now living in a new normal.”
Cari Lu with her son and husband.
A new normal that looks like grocery shopping across towns because roads are still blocked by debris. Conserving power because the power grid still comes and goes. Living in basements because roofs are destroyed. Creating new memories because lifetimes of photos and mementos were damaged or permanently ruined.
A Community of Partners and Individuals
Tifie partnered with AMAZING people who were and are still championing the people of Puerto Rico. LUPR has a full-time volunteer living in Puerto Rico to coordinate and assist in rebuilding roofs. Tim Dye and Jose Perez-Ramos have installed 22 mobile health clinics throughout the island to provide essential care to survivors. Direct Relief mobilized donations to first responders, hospitals and clinics throughout the Caribbean. Tifie sent shelters, solar panels, volunteers, and donations to these organizations in the months following the donations.
We saw the people of Utah (and across the nation!) rise up to be a solution in the aftermath of the Hurricane. We were amazed at the hundreds of people who came alongside of them to donate and volunteer. Governor Herbert and Lt Governor Cox put together a press conference and brought Utah residents and companies together to donate to the LUPR campaign.
“If we could load up our trucks drive to Puerto Rico, we would’ve done it.” – Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said to first group of 50 volunteers in Nov 2017
Carilu and Jorge Alvardo led the efforts in Puerto Rico to identify, distribute and organize donated supplies. They are still there, along with Ron, coordinating volunteer groups who are rebuilding roofs for families. When Tim and Jose from the University of Rochester reached out to us to help with mobile medical tents, they brought dozens of donors and colleagues to help make all of the donations possible. It truly was a tapestry of people with a variety of backgrounds and connections to Puerto Rico who wanted to help however they could.
With Ron Batt’s background in contracting, he’s the perfect man for running operations on the ground. He’s got a big heart, even rescued little Lucy off the streets. Ron volunteered for two years as an LDS Missionary and feels right at home.
The volunteers who travelled to Puerto Rico worked long days in humid conditions, but with no complaints. Their focus, and ours too, is on the people we are helping. And we continue to say to the people of Puerto Rico, we see you. We see you rebuilding. We see hope rising and communities coming together, neighbors helping one another in an unprecedented way. We see the goodness of humanity.
When You Do Good, You Get Good
There’s always a ripple effect when you do good. Our founder Robert Workman has always said “when you do good, you get good.” Whether that’s a personal growth or receiving goodness, we’ve seen the ripples extend of communities coming together, donating what they can, praying together and becoming more empathetic. We share a heartfelt and deep thank you to all of our donors who have given time, money and supplies to us to help the people of Puerto Rico. Thank you for trusting us – a collective us of many organizations and people who are still wading through debris, storms and brokeness to help raise to life the new normal of Puerto Rico. #puertoricoselevanta.
