[LTER-education] Fw: Hurricane Maria Relief -- Please support local aid and recovery projects in Puerto Rico

[Jill Haukos]

>From LUQ's  Noelia Baez:


________________________________
From: (null) (null) <noelita_c at yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2017 8:32 AM
To: Christopher Nytch Nytch
Subject: Fwd: Hurricane Maria Relief -- Please support local aid and recovery projects in Puerto Rico


Dear family, friends, and colleagues,

It has been almost a month since María passed over Puerto Rico as a category 4 hurricane, unleashing violent winds and heavy rains that ravaged and inundated communities across the island. Thousands of individuals and families lost their homes, personal belongings, and livelihoods. Puerto Rico’s entire system of telecommunications was knocked out, leaving many towns completely isolated.

The day after the storm we ventured out to assess the damage in our neighborhood, observing trees toppled across the roadways, roofs ripped off houses, and most unfortunately, some homes completely demolished. Looking up toward El Yunque National Forest (El Yunque), we saw a bare landscape where just the day before a verdant tropical canopy had existed, seemingly unalterable. We were utterly shocked and saddened by Maria’s impact.

Our spirits were soon lifted! Puerto Rico is a resilient country, with its strength rooted deep in the soil as well as the community. In a matter of hours, local groups of citizens were out clearing the roads with machetes and chainsaws, and helping neighbors sift through debris and stabilize their homes. Others passed by with warm meals and potable water. Within a week, many trees began to leaf out again, testimony to the will to live and the natural capacity for renewal. External aid from partners in the US and internationally has been amazing as well. These efforts have made heroic strides toward helping those in need through the provision of emergency relief. We are grateful for and humbled by the outpouring of solidarity and support received thus far.

Yet we are just beginning what will be a long road to full recovery. A majority of the island’s 3.5 million inhabitants remain without basic water and electric utilities (ourselves included). For many people, access to food, clothing, medical supplies, and fuel is also compromised due to limited stocks and blocked transportation routes, particularly in rural mountain areas. Elderly and low-income communities are among the most vulnerable. It is anticipated that these difficult conditions will persist for several more months, potentially exacerbating public health crises.

Many people have contacted us asking about how they can help in the relief and recovery efforts, whether through the donation of money, material goods, or time and physical labor. We greatly appreciate these sentiments, and have worked with local partners here in Puerto Rico to organize a web-based platform through which donations can be made that will support projects on the ground and people in need. The platform is based on a network of reciprocal relationships we have been developing since 2009 among academic, non-profit, and community-based organizations located in Puerto Rico and the mainland US. These relations are aimed at creating capacity for activities and intercultural learning opportunities around the themes of place-based community engagement and science education, environmental stewardship, and local resilience/resource sustainability.

Two key collaborators in this network are the Center for Landscape Conservation (CLC) and HASER, non-profit groups based in Puerto Rico that provide technical and organizational assistance to support a broad array of environmental projects ranging from landscape conservation to food security to environmental justice. Since 2009, we have worked closely with the CLC to facilitate educational exchanges, service-learning projects, forest restoration, curricula and professional development for educators and organizational personnel, and environmental science activities throughout eastern and central Puerto Rico. These experiences have created a solid foundation of collaborative trust and respect.

We are confident this same network of partners, coordinated locally by the CLC and HASER, can also serve as an effective vehicle for channeling hurricane relief aid to Puerto Rico. Immediately after the hurricane, the staff of these organizations went to work, in partnership with the Sierra Club, delivering meals, water, and other necessities to citizens of the ten communities surrounding El Yunque. Now, working with our friends and collaborators at the University of Vermont, they have established a website<http://www.ccpaisaje.org/es/huracan-maria/> http://www.ccpaisaje.org/hurricane-maria-recovery/ that describes the numerous aid projects it is engaged in and the collaborating partners. On this site you will find links for donating to distinct initiatives managed by the CLC and HASER that support the following:

•        Provision of emergency supplies of food, water, clothes, and public health/medical related materials (e.g., water filters)
•        Reforestation and education projects in communities around El Yunque
•        Emergency supplies and financial aid for farmers near El Yunque
•        Chainsaw projects to purchase materials and equipment for maintenance of green areas and technical support/safety training
•        UV water purification projects
•        Solar light projects

In the coming weeks and months, we anticipate that other initiatives will be added, including the need for work parties that focus on community and forest recovery/restoration projects.

Please take the time to visit the website<http://www.ccpaisaje.org/es/huracan-maria/>, consider donating, and spread the word widely. Your generous contributions will make a direct impact and help Puerto Rico recover and thrive!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us directly.

With gratitude y un gran abrazo,

Noelia and Chris

HC 5 Box 8896
Río Grande, PR 00745
nbaez at yahoo.com<mailto:nbaez at yahoo.com>
chrisnytch at yahoo.com<mailto:chrisnytch at yahoo.com>
703-470-8233 (Noelia’s cell)
202-365-3395 (Chris’ cell)

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