Puerto Rico, U.S. Territory since 1898, is an island filled with roughly 3.5 million people and I am one of them. I grew up in the paradise island that people love to visit during summer vacation. For 19 years, I’ve considered it my home and I am one of the many children from Puerto Rico who is forced to watch their island go through devastating times while trying to focus on their studies here in the U.S. I try to find a word to describe how it feels but all I can come up with is heartbreaking. After Hurricane Maria, it took my family days before they could all notify me that they were okay, to say it was hard is an understatement.
First to call me was my mother, who stayed with my siblings while the biggest hurricane in history ripped our island apart. She told me how the hurricane affected our home, the streets we travel on destroyed. Houses torn to the ground, we were one of the few lucky ones. Puerto Rico screamed for help but U.S. President Donald Trump ignored the call. He focused his attention on football and not on his people who were, and still are, in pain. Therefore, we Puerto Ricans took the matter into our own hands, setting up donations on Go Fund Me, sharing news, images and more on Facebook so that the U.S. would see us and answer our cry for help.
It’s been a week since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I still cry as I watch the pictures posted by those who have managed to find some cell service. Back home people are fighting for food, water, and gas. It’s devastating, watching my island, my people, burn as they try to get a sip of cold water or something to eat. Stores are closed, the government is working to gather help. Lines at the gas station take hours just to be able to fill 1/4 of a tank. Some have gone far enough to kill another for supplies. While this all goes on my family expects me to stay put and stay strong. How can I stay strong when my people are dying? I pour my heart out all over social media but that’s not enough. I am a girl who loves her island, they need me, they need us.
Just now the White House has authorized a waiver to loosen the Jones Act, this will help some. There are now companies sending stuff to Puerto Rico. I know it is hard to hear about events like this and maybe you’d like to help, simply donate to organizations such as unidosporpuertorico.com or hispanicfederation.org, it’s all I ask for my island, my home.
Images Courtesy of Nathalee Deya