Puerto Rico's children: a focus of concern ... and source of inspiration
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Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
| Pi帽ones, Puerto Rico
Half the houses in their seaside town may have lost their roofs, parents may have been thrown out of work, and surging waters may have claimed a favorite sofa for watching TV.
But Pablo Rivera and Yadiel Villalona have to admit that, from their perspective as 12-year-old boys, there are advantages to be seized upon in the aftermath of hurricane Maria.
Like the fact that days on end without school means more time to practice three-point shots and the quick breakaway on the local basketball court.
鈥淢y heart was beating fast during the storm, but our building was OK and now I鈥檓 fine,鈥� says Yadiel, who lives in a public-housing high-rise in this poor town known for its beachfront seafood stalls.
His friend Pablo had a rougher experience with Maria 鈥� 鈥淥ur roof didn鈥檛 blow away, but water came in anyway and we lost pretty much everything,鈥� he says 鈥� but he too takes a dismissive approach to the calamity that beset Puerto Rico.
鈥淲e helped clean up the court three days after the storm and we鈥檝e been playing almost every day since,鈥� says Pablo. Adds Yadiel: 鈥淚鈥檓 in no hurry to go back to school, I prefer playing basketball.鈥�
As 12-year-old boys just about everywhere seem to know instinctively, you鈥檙e better off not to let your guard down, in life as on the basketball court 鈥� so there may be a bit of adolescent bravado tucked into Pablo鈥檚 and Yadiel鈥檚 words.
But as Puerto Rico鈥檚 recovery gradually shifts from emergency response 鈥� getting food, clean water, medicine, and the much-coveted blue plastic 鈥淔EMA tarps鈥� to communities that still have little or none 鈥� to more long-term concerns, educators and child psychologists say they鈥檙e keeping an eye out for signs of the emotional toll the island鈥檚 devastation may have taken among children.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still pretty much at the first stages of response, basically assuring that families have what they need to survive, but even as we do that we鈥檙e watching for the emotional vulnerabilities that this kind of disaster can cause, especially among children,鈥� says Aurin茅s Torres, a community sociologist from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR).
鈥淚t can really shake children鈥檚 foundations and sources of confidence,鈥� she adds, 鈥渋f everything they depend on in the world 鈥� their home, their family, their school 鈥� is solid one day and turned upside down or even lost the next.鈥�
With her own normal routine of teaching community intervention at the university鈥檚 medical center disrupted, Dr. Torres is out in towns like Pi帽ones, working alongside groups of doctors as they provide medical services. Hearing the anxieties of the mothers and grandparents (and kids) she meets, Torres can better assess the kinds of mental-health services Puerto Ricans will need in the months ahead, she says.
One of the groups Torres is piggybacking with is Talleres Salud, a women鈥檚-health support organization that works from the premise that healthy communities start with healthy women.
鈥淥ur motivating principle is that if women are well, their children and their communities are well,鈥� says Jennifer de Jes煤s, a services facilitator with the organization.
鈥淭here is so much stress for women after an event like Maria,鈥� she says. 鈥� 'Where am I going to get food and clean water for my family, how do I keep the kids from getting sick in these very bad conditions, where do I go for any help?鈥� If we can do things to relieve the mother鈥檚 anxieties,鈥� she adds, 鈥渉er children will feel that relief and they will be healthier, too.鈥�
'What's important hasn't changed'
At the emergency response office in Torrecilla Baja, a half-collapsed neighborhood of Pi帽ones, mothers and grandmothers seeking solutions to a myriad of Maria-spawned tribulations offer a picture of both the trauma caused by Maria and the resilience shining through.
Jannette Maysonet, mother of daughters Leylanis and Amah铆a and expecting a third child, says she and her husband are trying hard to assure their girls that the important things in their lives haven鈥檛 gone away, and that no hurricane can stop mom and dad from keeping them safe.
鈥淲e want them to feel as much as like normal life goes on, that despite everything we see around us that what鈥檚 important hasn鈥檛 changed,鈥� Ms. Maysonet says.
When Amah铆a celebrated her fourth birthday four days after Maria, her mom didn鈥檛 let a knocked-out kitchen and shuttered local businesses deter her: She managed to find a small packaged cake and to put a candle on it.
And when Amah铆a started waking up at night crying for her father, a first-responder in a San Juan suburb who has been working almost nonstop since Maria, Maysonet settled on a heroic explanation for her husband鈥檚 absence. 鈥淚 told her that daddy was doing his job helping other people, and she has been OK since then.鈥�
Lisette Clemente is also turning bad circumstances into an opportunity.
Having lost her house to the storm, Ms. Clemente has moved in with her daughter 鈥� a change that serves as a daily reminder of her loss, but one which also has ended up giving her a sense that she鈥檚 contributing to her family in these tough times. She鈥檚 taking care of her granddaughter Amaya, since the pre-school she attends remains closed and Amaya鈥檚 mother is back at work at a reopened Sam鈥檚 Club.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to show [Amaya] that she is safe and doesn鈥檛 have to worry about anything,鈥� Clemente says.
From kids, a sense of solidarity
Indeed, when asked for her thoughts on Maria, Amaya says resolutely, 鈥淢aria? Maria went away.鈥� She also happily offers one of the two tiny yellow flowers she鈥檚 holding to the pesky journalist peppering her with questions.
What prompted a little girl to share her prize with a stranger may remain unknown, but many Puerto Ricans say they are seeing signs everywhere 鈥� in particular among young people 鈥� of a desire to give in the midst of so much loss, and to do what one can to help others out.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite striking how much evidence we鈥檙e seeing of young people and even small children chipping in to help their home and their communities recover,鈥� says Yolanda Gonz谩lez, an assistant professor at UPR鈥檚 Graduate School of Education. 鈥淚t shows that even at a young age there鈥檚 a sense of solidarity and some level of understanding that we feel better when we help others.鈥�
In Arecibo, a coastal town west of San Juan, Francis Marci谩l embodies this spirit as he joins his mother Yanaira Pitre and some municipal workers to distribute a truckload of tarps to residents whose roofs were carried away by Maria鈥檚 winds.
鈥淚 like helping other people, it makes me feel like I鈥檓 doing something for Puerto Rico,鈥� says the high school senior aiming to study mechanical engineering. 鈥淚 know a lot of people say the young people don鈥檛 do anything, but I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 true. If you look around,鈥� he adds, 鈥測ou see a lot of young people doing something to help out.鈥�
Professor Gonz谩lez notes that hundreds of students showed up spontaneously at the university to help clear debris. As word spread, hundreds more came to pitch in over subsequent days.
Even Pablo at the Pi帽ones basketball court makes the unsolicited clarification that he went to his cousin鈥檚 house to help clean up after Maria before he joined friends in clearing the basketball court of debris. 鈥淚 think that made my aunt happy,鈥� he says.
Focus on helping others
That desire to pitch in is on full display at the Padre Rufo secondary school in the Santurce section of San Juan. Like other public schools on the island, Padre Rufo is closed for regular classes until at least Oct. 23. But in the meantime, the school鈥檚 principal has opened her modest campus to elementary school children and teenagers alike as a shelter from what can be the disheartening picture of Maria鈥檚 aftermath.
When Padre Rufo first opened its doors about a week after Maria, the focus was on letting kids tell their Maria stories and on assessing their mental state. And there was plenty of hurt and sorrow, judging by the drawings the littlest ones did of their hurricane experience.
One little girl drew a phalanx of menacing visages arriving over a green Puerto Rico, their eyes and mouths wide-open and empty like Edvard Munch鈥檚 鈥淭he Scream.鈥� Another girl colored her Puerto Rico a jarring red and wrote, 鈥淕od abandoned me.鈥�
But the principal, Beverly Rodriguez, says she decided it was important for the kids to quickly move on from reliving what had happened to understanding that things would get better. 鈥淭hey have a lot to tell, but we didn鈥檛 want them to get stuck on talking about the hurricane,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e want to move on to the future.鈥�
A science teacher takes kids out to the school鈥檚 small herb and vegetable garden to show them that all was not lost, that the parsley and basil and spinach are already growing back strong. A gym teacher leads students in calisthenics.
'Puerto Rico will rise up!'
And now Ms. Rodriguez says she鈥檚 seeing more signs every day of kids bouncing back and determined to surmount Maria鈥檚 challenges. That spirit is captured in another drawing on the school鈥檚 bulletin board that boasts the caption, 鈥淢aria was a category 5, but Puerto Rico is a category 10!鈥�
One day this week in a classroom of adolescents, clinical psychologist Rosario Gomez, who normally works with at-risk juveniles, brought the kids to their feet with a kind of pep rally for Puerto Rico.
鈥淢aria, Maria, you took away the roof, but Puerto is standing tall!鈥� they chant. 鈥淧aint yourself with the colors of hope, so that Puerto Rico will rise up!鈥�
There鈥檚 more than happy talk to such exercises, Dr. Gomez says, especially when the fun stuff like the cheers is accompanied by activities that allow for putting the slogans in practice. The kids in the class hand wrote letters to kids who lost their homes and are living in shelters, for example, starting each one with, 鈥淢y Puerto Rican friend.鈥�
鈥淜ids have a lot of hope, but my worry is that as the long process of recovery from Maria moves slowly on, they lose faith,鈥� Gomez says. 鈥淔ocusing on helping others and on the small things they can do to contribute can help them keep their hope alive,鈥� she says.
To one side of the boisterous classroom, a quiet Antony Smart offers a confirmation of Gomez鈥檚 approach 鈥� not to mention an unexpectedly guileless sentiment for a 15-year-old boy.
鈥淚 know a lot of people lost a lot in this storm, so it kind of feels good to do something to encourage them,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 feeling my heart when I share from it with others.鈥�
