Browse Items (385 total)

  • Collection: Cultural Exchange - Puerto Rico Sustainable Disaster Relief

Gandules, or pigeon peas, growing on trellises in the mountains of San Sebastian.

Raíces director and co-founder Francisco G. Gómez visiting Don Luis Soto at Finca Mi Casa to asses the damage and learn how the Raíces Sustainable Disaster Relief Initiative can provide assistance.

The greenhouse at Finca Mi Casa was cleaned up and planted immediately after Hurricane María hit the island of Puerto Rico. Four months later, when the Raíces crew visited the farm, there were vegetables and seeds ready for harvest. The roof of the…

Raíces Cultural Center Director Francisco G. Gómez planting bean seeds at Finca Mi Casa. The earth was prepared for planting by hand and the seeds will be grown out to be saved and shared.

Don Luis Soto of Finca Mi Casa showing us some of the first seeds ready for saving have been planted immediately after the passing of Hurricane Maria.

The Plenitud PR Greenhouse was already in production when we arrived in January. The greenhouse itself was fixed after the donation of funds by Juntos Together, a coalition of Central NJ relief organizations working to support sustainable relief and…

TSA inspected and approved seeds, organic teas, handmade natural soaps, solar lamps and other relief supplies.

Seed Huntress Sefra Alexander and Semiteca project volunteer Luz Cruz looking through the Hudson Valley Seed Company donations the Raíces crew brought to the Seed Brigade.

Seed Brigade volunteers looking through the box of seed donations, discovering rare and interesting varieties and admiring the Hudson Valley Seed Company art packs.

Seed Brigade volunteer Rahnawn Littles sorts out Hudson Valley Seed Company donations to include in mini Semitecas designated for donation to school gardens.

Seed Brigade volunteers were from around the world. At the brigade, Raíces crew members met volunteers from San Juan, Santurce, Brooklyn, Maine, Massachusettes, Israel, Germany and beyond. The seed relief work was done thanks to many helping hands…

Seed Brigade volunteer Gregory, who was visiting his parents in San Juan and wanted to volunteer for sustainable relief and recovery efforts. Gregory sorted Husdon Valley Seed Company seeds for donations to over 70 schools through the Semiteca…

Raíces Disaster Relief Trip Volunteer Christina Proxenos sorting seed into a bucket system for distribution to local farmers, school gardens, community gardens and agroecokogy projects.

Mural along Rt 2 in Toa Alta that reads “Un árbol es tan fuerte como sus RAÍCES…Yo sé, donde estan las mias…Y TÚ???”, meaning “A tree is as strong as its roots. I know where my roots are…do you?”.

Many signs for businesses that were damaged during Hurricane Maria had not yet been replaced.

A slogan meaning “Puerto Rico will rise” that was widely used after Hurricane Maria during the relief and recovery efforts. It was seen on t-shirts, bus stops, signs, murals and installations like this one.

Some homes which suffered major damage, including loss of the roof, were abandoned after Hurricane Maria, as residents continued to leave the island to find work, health care services, and open schools for their children.

Mural in San Juan, Puerto Rico that reads “La Lucha continúa…NO a la Junta de Control Fiscal!”, meaning “The struggle continues…NO to the fiscal control oversight board.”

On the first full day in Puerto Rico, the Raíces Crew drove through Piñones and Loíza to visit friends who are musicians and work to preserve culture on the island. We made a stop at COPI, a location Raíces had visited on the 2009 cultural exchanges…

Marife Roman, employee at COPI, with Francisco G. Gómez, director and co-founder of Raíces Cultural Center.

A building destroyed along the coast in Piñones.
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