Arrival, Aftershocks, and Getting to Work
Through the help of many friends both old and new, I’m sitting in a studio apartment in Ponce, Puerto Rico. My grandson’s teary goodbye at the Denver airport was softened by a surprise egg candy/toy that I slipped into his hand. He said, “Nana, when you fly again, can I have another surprise egg?” My son-in-law loaded the airport cart with four suitcases – 3 with water filters and a backpack with my personal belongings. He pushed the cumbersome cart in 20ºF temps into the warm Spirit Airlines counter where we hugged. Then he returned to the car with my daughter and grandson.
Eleven and half hours later, I was checking out a little white Kia from the San Juan Airport. I texted Albert that my arrival at the Coffee House in Ponce should be around 11 a.m. As we sipped coffee, this gentle giant holding his 2 month-old baby boxer, Evita, slowly unwrapped weeks of his friends and his personal trauma, trauma that is now stored deep in their bones.
Just had a small aftershock:
I checked www. Redsismica.uprm.edu for a fast update 3.61 M
He calls several friends everyday to check on their emotional state. His calm voice and pragmatic advice calms them. A friend called Albert with an urgent request: infant formula was needed to supply a family with a young child in a remote area where they are surviving in a small tent.
Another aftershock: 3.87 M
Small stores only take cash right now, difficult for those whose jobs are on hold because the boss is afraid to keep the office open with the continued shaking.
11 aftershocks so far today
Our dear friend Anthony, who helped build the community filter in Guayanilla in 2017 has lost everything – his house, his mother’s room, and his workshop. His home that served as a resource center after Hurricane Maria is now cracked and water logged. In 2017, Anthony was joyful helping his fisher community. We ran trips to his hardware store for filter parts and met another friend Margarite who donated 100 five-gallon containers for water. Now he’s broken, confused, hopeless that his life, once fulfilling and generous, is no more. His family is surviving on the lawn of his in-laws, where more and more family members are finding comfort and a safe place to sleep. No one is permitted back to their homes in Guayanilla. The army has corded it off until engineers check the damage and the aftershocks are over.
Albert and I decided to head up Hwy 10 to an evolving refugee camp built just a week ago. The land near the road was terraced, flattened with fist size chunky tar pieces spread out as a surface. People are coming here from all over the southern region, not just those living nearby, but those who work in Ponce and can’t return to their homes. The camp is organized by locals. They leveled the site, put up tarps, built make shift showers and provided a safe place for belongings.
They’ve built a women’s wood shelter to provide bunk beds, cribs, and a special room for a disabled older lady, which is separated by a cloth wall. They have their own shower and hope to put in a septic tank for them as well.
“Agua no potable” is painted on the truck that brings water to the camp, so they are using bottled water to drink and the “agua no potable” water for washing and other needs.
After discussions with the camp leader, a kind, energetic man, we decided to put the 500- gallon community filter near the water source. Tomorrow Albert and I will make a run to home depot to collect the large water drum, PVC pipe, glue, and taps.
Installation should be quick, maybe 4 hours.
There is another group working in refugee camps in this area, a Puerto Rican mixed group of engineers, doctors, psychologists, nurses and others, who came together to help survivors of Hurricane Maria.
Today they are teaching the group how to make cots and encouraging them to personalize the canvas that covers the wood. A small playground with a shade canvas tarp was put up for the children.
After the meetings and decisions as to where to place the filter were made, Albert drove up to his new home north of the camp and I drove south to check into my studio apartment.
—Linda
To donate to bring fresh water to those affected by the earthquake, click here.