|
by Aida Haddad
July 30th was our last full day of programming in Puerto Rico. The next day, we departed to our homes across the United States. I was ready to spread the news of Puerto Rico’s gift for rapid organization in the face of climate disaster and, in more recent history, government corruption. However, I also had a strong desire to stay and listen more. Part of me wanted to sit with the Puerto Rican people through the approaching hurricane season; to be another set of hands capable of moving debris, distributing potable water, or setting up solar lamps. But, this delegation intended to sit, to learn, to ask how we could best repent as a church & as U.S. citizens complicit in the archipelago’s colonization, and to leave--sharing what we learned with our local communities. We were always meant to go home and share. I was never meant to stick around and ‘fix’ anything. Before medical school, I attended seminary. I may have finished my M.Div., but my affinity towards the pastorate dissipated as I realized I did not possess the spiritual gift of sitting with grief. Of course, this is something I developed in my personal relationships anyhow. I ultimately decided to pivot towards a career that would, more times than not, allow me to fix problems from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. rather than grieve them. Anyway, here is what our last day in San Juan included: Our day began at Proyecto ENLACE and the Fideicomiso Caño Martín Peña--a cooperative endeavor between two non-profits in San Juan, ensuring the health and prosperity of the area’s vulnerable populations living along the Martín Peña canal. Proyecto ENLACE has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Martín Peña canal, thus protecting families along the canal from flooding; the Fideicomiso (or land trust) will prevent predatory land grabbing after the canal is restored. The canal is on a very desirable piece of land that the wealthy will attempt to gentrify as soon as its dredging controls flooding. We met with Estrella Santiago, a biologist and lawyer who serves as the environmental area manager, once we arrived at their headquarters. Estrella began by telling us the history of the informal settlement which surrounds the Martín Peña canal and Hurricane María’s effect on this community. For context, Puerto Ricans moved to this area in the mid-20th century searching for employment after the United States abandoned rural sugar cane industry subsidies. Their descendants now call this place home. For Proyecto ENLACE and the Fideicomiso Caño Martín Peña, this is reason enough to restore the canal thus ensuring that home remains a home. And right now, home is threatened by pollution-driven flooding, capitalism, and climate change. In the wake of Hurricane María, the families living along the canal--a flood zone--were wholly neglected by the municipality, the commonwealth, and the federal government for weeks. Estrella fought tears as she recounted reasons for fatalities in the area. Due to the lack of electricity and potable water, the community lost many elders who suffered from lung conditions, cancer, or being homebound. She mourned the total rejection of Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable populations in the wake of climate disaster. We sat with Estrella as she continued to share. She told us the stories of round-the-clock work for weeks on end and the transformation of their headquarters to a storage facility for emergency supplies. Finally, Estrella confirmed the countless lives saved because of the organizations’ community development work beginning thirteen years before Hurricane María’s landfall. Left with much to think about, some of us spent the afternoon wandering La Perla on the coast adjacent to Old San Juan. La Perla is a historic neighborhood that once contained a slaughterhouse alongside homes for slaves and non-white servants. As we walked its streets, we noted a juxtaposition of María’s destructive forces and gentrification (feigning resilience). Signs of humanitarian disaster and displacement overwhelmed the senses. Murals offered a space for lament, and visions of hope and justice for the future. As I let my mind wander, I could not help but think of what was lost in La Perla--lives, health, homes, or any sense of security--without groups like Proyecto ENLACE and the Fideicomiso to fill the first responder disparity and protect the neighborhood’s families from ensuing disaster capitalism… without Puerto Ricans caring for other Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rico is filled with artists, biologists, social workers, physicians, laborers, geologists, organizers, theologians, clergy, and congregants--all of whom acted as first responders after María and whose stories we should have shared sooner than this delegation. I returned one week ago, and I have only just started crying when I remember Estrella’s tears and La Perla’s reality almost two years after Hurricane María made landfall. My reluctance toward sitting in grief with strangers was fast eroding as I researched Puerto Rico’s healthcare crisis before the delegation; the barrier was then completely dismantled as we sat in classrooms and churches across San Juan, learning from Puerto Rican first responders on where they think we need to take the conversation on relief, recovery, and resilience. Our teachers never asked us to fix anything. Instead, we asked the experts questions--potentially giving a new perspective of their already comprehensive recovery efforts, but more likely reassuring them that they were not screaming futilities into a void. If anything, we attempted to convey that we see them, we aim to understand them, and we will carry their stories across time and geographies. As Michelle Muñiz-Vega shared in anticipation of the delegation, “It is our hope that delegation members better understand [the Puerto Rican] cultural context, therefore harnessing the ability to identify methods of advocacy around topics like our island environment, societal colonialism, etc. while also developing a direct connection with the leadership in el Presbiterio de San Juan. In short, this delegation will give us the platform to amplify the struggles of the Puerto Rican people, within and apart from climate change natural disasters.” With this commissioning, I will continue to openly grieve María and the hurricane season to come, from afar, by whatever means asked of me. You are invited to take part in this commission, as well. So, what does communion with our Puerto Rican siblings look like for you? What will you do?
1 Comment
We woke up in Puerto Rico Sunday morning, and the bright sun kissed my face, and a gentle breeze wrapped me in its embrace. The church Sexton was unlocking the church and a Psalm came to mind-“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”.
Indeed, once the community was gathered for worship at Iglesias Presbyterians Rvdo. Ramón Olivo Robles en Monteflores, we sang “This is the day, This is the day”. Earlier in the week we were most inspired by Dr. Lorna Jaramillo Nieves words on resilience, including her inventory of the social resources that Puerto Rico has for responding to disasters and other challenges. In the sermon that Pastora Arelis Cardona preached Sunday morning, we were challenged to build on a solid foundation and to build something that withstand the challenges of life. To build implies a future- and indeed, Pastora Arelis told us to practice towards a goal- so I pondered the resources we have for building a future. We have, first, a knowledge of our vulnerability. We know things will happen. We know we will make mistakes. We know the CHALLENGES are tremendous. We know we will need God’s mercy. Second, the Puerto Ricans (having endured a massive hurricane) now know their strengths. They’ve a new understanding of unity, an awareness of their capabilities, and s knowledge of what must be done. We who were privileged to see first hand the events of recent weeks (as well as the last two years) are also inventorying OUR strengths. As people of faith, we know we have the presence of God, vulnerable with us, yearning with us, building a future with us. So we have HOPE. We have our brothers and sisters in faith with us, even as we strive for a renewed earth, and wait for a new heaven. AND, we have this day. So let’s be glad, and let’s begin. George Pasley Martin TN This is a poem which encapsulates my feelings about our time last week in Puerto Rico. It goes beyond the need for divestment; I wrote it at the end of Monday and hoped to have it ready before we left, but time ran out.
The heav’ns are proclaiming the glory of God, The earth is alive with God’s voice! Creation is calling: salvation is now; Our faith has commanded a choice. We must decide what the future will be. We must engage in the fight. God is imploring – take care of this world; We need to do what is right. Glaciers are melting, Species are dying, Time slips away from our hands. When will we see How the world urgently Needs the Spirit of love for God’s lands? God’s love compels us – Creation now tells us The time to take action is now! Repentance is needed From warnings unheeded, Our sinful desires disavow. Materialism and selfish ambition Are ruining our planet, our home; The rich just get richer, What’s wrong with this picture While millions of poor have no home? The heav’ns are proclaiming the glory of God, The earth is alive with God’s voice! Creation is calling: salvation is now; Our faith has commanded a choice. We must decide what the future will be. We must engage in the fight. God is imploring – take care of this world; We need to do what is right. While we do nothing Pollution, disgusting, Continues to choke life away. What good is religion If it has no vision To call us to action today? We must take measures To preserve God’s treasures And help ev’ry species survive. If we do not choose this The earth will refuse this How long we be here alive? We are the ones, God has Put us in charge, and as Agents of grace we resist From using resources In self-seeking ways And from ruining the earth We desist The heav’ns are proclaiming the glory of God, The earth is alive with God’s voice! Creation is calling: salvation is now; Our faith has commanded a choice. We must decide what the future will be. We must engage in the fight. God is imploring – take care of this world; We need to do what is right. A new day is dawning The people are caring God’s kingdom is calling We see A new day of freedom When all of God’s kingdom Lives fully the life Meant to be Creation is cheering God’s kingdom is nearing The shackles unbounded From all We join with creation In this celebration We urge you to join – Heed the call! The heav’ns are proclaiming the glory of God, The earth is alive with God’s voice! Creation is calling: salvation is now; Our faith has commanded a choice. We must decide what the future will be. We must engage in the fight. God is imploring – take care of this world; We need to do what is right. Rev. Jeff Courter 2019 The Presbyterian Church (USA) believes that the mission and purpose of the church is to be “a provisional demonstration of what God intends for all humanity.” This is exactly what I experienced on the third day of our Fossil Free PC(USA) delegation to Puerto Rico when we visited Casa Pueblo in heart of Adjuntas. Stepping into Casa Pueblo was like stepping into the gospel story itself – it was a foretaste of the Reign of God.
Casa Pueblo opened its doors in 1980 as a resistance movement began mobilizing to oppose government and corporate plans to authorize open-pit mining in the pristine and geologically unique mountain communities of Adjuntas. Though the hills had proven gold, silver and copper resources, the proposed extraction would destroy both the beauty and bio-diversity of the region as well as pollute the local watershed feeding the Rio Grande de Arecibo. During the long fight against the mining industry, Casa Pueblo provided a much-needed center for culture expression, community empowerment, democratic decision-making, and the sharing of technical information. As Alexis Mossal-Gonzales, the founder of Casa Pueblo, would often say, “Science + Culture + Community = Change.” The first organized event against the mines attracted exactly one person. When, fifteen years later, the government finally decided to permanently ban mining in Puerto Rico, more than ten thousand showed up to celebrate together with song and dance and festivity. From Protest to Proposal If this first stage of Casa Pueblo’s mobilization necessarily placed it at the center of community protest, the second stage was one of proposing alternative futures. This was, admittedly, long and hard work. Over the next two decades, Casa Pueblo transformed itself into a center of sustainability and resilience, installing its now famous off-grid solar system, growing and selling local produce, marketing and serving its own coffee, providing a venue for artisan crafts, running a community radio station in a region without stable telecommunications, opening a butterfly garden for children, teaching new methods of agriculture, and offering classes in and a performance venue for art and music. It has also helped establish the first ever community-controlled forest in Puerto Rico, the Bosque del Pueblo, protecting the resources of the region for the future and in which they have opened a forest school for environmental and conservation education. And the list of demonstration projects goes on. Just last year they initiated #50ConSol, a campaign calling for 50 percent of Puerto Rico’s power to come from the sun, “which shines 365 days of the year.” For all this work, Casa Puebla has received numerous recognitions, including the Goldman Environmental Prize. But founder Alexis Massol-Gonzales would say that he does what he does at Casa Pueblo not only because it is good work and the right thing to do, but because it makes him happy. That happiness is expressed in his easy smile, and the source of that happiness is everywhere evident at Casa Pueblo. A Solar Oasis When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 21, 2017, the island was plunged into a month’s long (and in many places longer) blackout. But the lights at Casa Pueblo remained on. It became what Naomi Klein has called a self-sustaining solar oasis: “Like moths to a flame, people from all over the hills of Adjuntas made their way to the warm and welcoming light.” Casa Pueblo quickly became the center of community renewal. The radio remained on, food continued to be served, emergency health facilities were set up, FEMA applications (which must be completed inline) were able to be filled our and filed, and neighbors could refrigerate life-saving medicine. In the coming months, more than 10,000 free solar lamps were distributed, bringing light into the darkness of every home, and by these lights Puerto Rico saw its future. Casa Pueblo not only saved lives, it offered hope. Hope, not just for surviving the present crisis, but for building a different and better future. As our group listened to Don Alexis outline the story of Casa Pueblo for us it became clear that just as the miracle of a life-saving solar oasis in the wake of Hurricane Maria was the result of decades of visionary work, so the spontaneous protests that were even then bringing down the Rosselló government were simultaneously the result of decades of social movement work here in Puerto Rico, movement work that includes all the demonstration projects at Casa Pueblo. Don Alexis told us that the vision of Casa Pueblo – like the uprising of recent weeks - began with two questions. First, “Is an alternative Puerto Rico possible?” Believing the answer to be a resounding and necessary “yes,” the second question became, “How do we do it? How do we bring it about?” Casa Pueblo, he told us, is a lesson in how to make another world possible. And the current Puerto Rican revolution, with 1.25 million people joyously, with dignity and pride, marching in the streets for this better world, shows that it is not only possible, its time has come. “Faith is not only hope,” he told us, “but acts.” The Presbyterian Church (USA) has an opportunity to live out its calling to be “a provisional demonstration of what God intends for all humanity” by divesting from fossil fuels at our upcoming General Assembly in 2020. Come join the movement. The time has come. Submitted by The Rev. Jeffrey A. Geary of White Plains, NY. In 2015, the White Plains Presbyterian Church fully divested from fossil companies identified in the Carbon Underground 200 list, including Exxon, and installed 167 solar panels on its roof as a demonstration project for its neighborhood. |
Welcome
you've found the blog for www.fossilfreepcusa.org Archives
September 2019
Categories |
RSS Feed
