In order to do service you have to have hope in you. You can’t have a cynical bone in your body because if you did it would reflect in your work. This resilience has been a constant theme I have noticed in the locals of Puerto Rico. From our amazing tour guide Nani, to working with Titi in Yabucoa, to Francisco and Noel working with us at El Yunque, and to working with Manuel and Rafael at the Roosevelt Road Naval Base we have seen everyone full of hope and ready to continue to make change.
From the stories we have heard, the people of this island care about their home with everything in their being. They care so much that when Hurricane Maria hit they ensured they looked out for one another. People were getting goods from the outskirts of the island and bringing it inland to those who needed it. In El Yunque we talked about how young volunteers were not common, but not because they didn’t care, they were just busy making changes in not public ways. They are different from us in that aspect. They will not do good work for the publicity that follows, the good work that gets done is because it NEEDS to get done. When I think about that I wonder if this is a direct relation to how the mainland treats Puerto Rico. There appears to be a bunch of redtape to stop Puerto Rico from growing such as the Jones Act, the Gag Law, or ensuring that foreign countries cannot supply direct aid, and the people who restricted them was the mainland. So in order to get around it the locals dedicate their lives and passions to restoring their home. I have loved the experience so far and I am beyond grateful I had the chance to be here and live this experience.
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