I made it down to Puerto Rico and have survived my first three days of work, while establishing a daily routine that I believe will allow me to mentally and physically get through the next few weeks! Working down here is inspiring, and heartbreaking, and wonderful, and exhausting. I have met a bunch of really cool people, and have found the relief volunteer culture to my liking. I was assigned to the Distribution of Emergency Supplies (DES) team, and have had my room mate as my team leader for the past three days which is awesome. Since, much like Peace Corps, what the job description is and what one actually does from day to day, are incredibly different, I thought it might be helpful for me to give you a break down of what my days have looked like so far.
Morning:
What is supposed to happen: Wake up, and eat dinner between 6am-7am in the second floor break room. Prepare what you need for the day, and then head down to the lobby to catch a ride with other volunteers to wherever you might need to get to. For the DES team this is the Caribbean Produce Warehouse, for many it is headquarters. Arrive at Caribbean at 8am.
What actually happens: This is pretty much my morning, not a ton can go wrong in most of these steps, and as my roommate is my team lead, I always have a ride. Sometime there is extra traffic, but for the most part this has been smooth sailing.
Early Afternoon
What is supposed to happen: Check in at Caribbean, and wait for the morning meeting/briefing. Chug down a couple of bottles of water, and hang out for an hour until you team of 3-4 people is assigned, along with a truck full of supplies, a translator, and a location for you to distribute at.
What actually happens: Arrive at Caribbean, check in, do morning meeting/briefing and then sometimes wait for up to 5 hours to have your team and location assigned. In an ideal world your team is 3-4 people, but sometimes teams of 2 go out. In an ideal world you are only in charge of one truck of supplies, but 2/3 of my days it has been two trucks. Sometimes you get a translator, and sometime you have to work with the person with the most amount of Spanish who happens to be in your group.
Mid Afternoon
What is supposed to happen: Use your directions and follow your trucks to the location in the barrio you have been assigned. Drive safely. Get in touch with your Person of Contact before arriving at your location to confirm the drop and possibly arrange to meet them, or determine if you will need a police escort. Arrive at the location and meet your Person of Contact to determine the best way to distribute supplies.
What actually happens: Firstly, the Person of Contact never seems to pick up the phone. Getting to the locations, especially the remote ones in the mountains means getting lost, and on my first day what was supposed to be a 45min ride, turned into a three hour one with one such misdirection. Driving is also incredibly treacherous at this point, there are downed power lines, washed out roads, mud slides, and debris still. Today our drives had to physically move downed power lines that made it so they didn't have enough clearance. As the majority of these places don't have power, this isn't an issue at this point, but it seems like an electrocution risk waiting to happen. The drop locations are not always able to accommodate the trucks, especially since we have been going out with two lately, which means another location has to be determined. The police escort has come through for my teams two out of my three days, which has been wonderful though.
Later afternoon
What is supposed to happen: enlist a few volunteers and unload your truck in an orderly fashion in a way that people can easily pick up supplies. Supplies for those community volunteers are put aside so we know they get some, and the team lead determines how much of each item goes to each family or individual. With the help of your volunteers and your translator have everyone calmly move through the line and collect their items. Make sure you distribute everything in your truck, and begin to pack up.
What actually happens: Getting volunteers hasn't been much of an issue, which ahs been awesome, but the orderly part is always a bit of a trick it would seem. Sometimes the supplies in the truck don't match the manifest. Sometimes the supplies in the truck need to be additionally parceled out, like yesterday when we had bags in rolls of 16, but had enough people that we wanted to give each person 8, which meant unrolling the bags and rerolling in 8's. Putting aside supplies for community volunteers always happens, but sometimes folks that aren't volunteering also want supplies, in which case we have to tell them to wait in line, or if they are not community members, that these are not for them. Rarely do we have enough of everything for everybody, but we always have something for the vast majority. The biggest issue I have seen so far is that the average person can not carry two packs of 25 water bottles, a box of MREs, a box of snacks, a roll of bags, two pairs of work gloves and a flashlight, and many don't bring cars or baskets. This means setting things aside in piles until people can figure things out but that causes the line to stop, or large groups of people to congregate, which means its hard to keep things organized.
Another big issue is that now that we have been going out with two trucks, we aren't always able to empty at the first site, and so we have to talk to local leaders about doing a second drop at a second location. Mind you, these trucks are carrying over 10,000lbs of supplies at times, and sometimes we are only a team of three. Repacking the trucks and then starting the whole process over again in a different location is both mentally and physically taxing, but also necessary.
Early Evening
What is supposed to happen: Pack up your trucks, stop for a late lunch/early dinner with your truck drivers on the way home, and then return to campus! Shouldn't be getting back later than 4 or 5pm.
What actually happens: we had a group return at 9pm last night, and many of the times, since you
have to be on a highway before dark, you aren't eating for most of the day. The dorms serve a dinner at 5:30pm, but if you are still making your way back at 6:30pm, there won't be any left. Cliff and Luna bars are my new favorite friend. This especially happens with two drop days, or days when folks get lost, or when the roads are particularly precarious.
Ultimately the work is exhausting but also incredibly rewarding. Folks have been so kind and grateful and helpful. The ARC volunteers here are all wanting to help no matter how many hours, or miles in a car, or driving along cliffs is takes. It is inspiring to be around such an impassioned, and dedicated group of humans. I have my own routines that help, include journaling in the morning and evening, reading a book in the car when I'm in the field (Artemis) and another at night before bed (Stone Butch Blues), and keeping on top of my lower back PT. I try and get protein whenever available, even if it
is meat, and I have been chugging more water and electrolytes than I know what to do with. Sunscreen and staying out of direct sun generally are a must, showering, even if all I want to do is also a must (for myself and everyone around me.) I'm getting into an incredibly satisfying and healthy rhythm, and I believe it will keep me in tip top shape for the next three weeks. Not to mention I assume I will be coming back looking like tan GI Jane with all the lifting I'm doing in the trucks, and all the crunches I'm doing so my back can do the lifting. :)
I honestly would not choose to be anywhere else at this moment, and that is an amazing feeling.
Will try and write more later, the dorms just switched over to 24/7 electricity so I should have a bit more access!
Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo
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| This is what comes into the field with me |
What is supposed to happen: Wake up, and eat dinner between 6am-7am in the second floor break room. Prepare what you need for the day, and then head down to the lobby to catch a ride with other volunteers to wherever you might need to get to. For the DES team this is the Caribbean Produce Warehouse, for many it is headquarters. Arrive at Caribbean at 8am.
What actually happens: This is pretty much my morning, not a ton can go wrong in most of these steps, and as my roommate is my team lead, I always have a ride. Sometime there is extra traffic, but for the most part this has been smooth sailing.
Early Afternoon
 |
| These are our trucks! |
What actually happens: Arrive at Caribbean, check in, do morning meeting/briefing and then sometimes wait for up to 5 hours to have your team and location assigned. In an ideal world your team is 3-4 people, but sometimes teams of 2 go out. In an ideal world you are only in charge of one truck of supplies, but 2/3 of my days it has been two trucks. Sometimes you get a translator, and sometime you have to work with the person with the most amount of Spanish who happens to be in your group.
Mid Afternoon
 |
| On the way to our drop site yesterday |
What actually happens: Firstly, the Person of Contact never seems to pick up the phone. Getting to the locations, especially the remote ones in the mountains means getting lost, and on my first day what was supposed to be a 45min ride, turned into a three hour one with one such misdirection. Driving is also incredibly treacherous at this point, there are downed power lines, washed out roads, mud slides, and debris still. Today our drives had to physically move downed power lines that made it so they didn't have enough clearance. As the majority of these places don't have power, this isn't an issue at this point, but it seems like an electrocution risk waiting to happen. The drop locations are not always able to accommodate the trucks, especially since we have been going out with two lately, which means another location has to be determined. The police escort has come through for my teams two out of my three days, which has been wonderful though.
Later afternoon
What is supposed to happen: enlist a few volunteers and unload your truck in an orderly fashion in a way that people can easily pick up supplies. Supplies for those community volunteers are put aside so we know they get some, and the team lead determines how much of each item goes to each family or individual. With the help of your volunteers and your translator have everyone calmly move through the line and collect their items. Make sure you distribute everything in your truck, and begin to pack up.
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| Could you carry this on your own? This was a per person supply |
Another big issue is that now that we have been going out with two trucks, we aren't always able to empty at the first site, and so we have to talk to local leaders about doing a second drop at a second location. Mind you, these trucks are carrying over 10,000lbs of supplies at times, and sometimes we are only a team of three. Repacking the trucks and then starting the whole process over again in a different location is both mentally and physically taxing, but also necessary.
Early Evening
 |
| Meal box (but they are all different) |
What actually happens: we had a group return at 9pm last night, and many of the times, since you
have to be on a highway before dark, you aren't eating for most of the day. The dorms serve a dinner at 5:30pm, but if you are still making your way back at 6:30pm, there won't be any left. Cliff and Luna bars are my new favorite friend. This especially happens with two drop days, or days when folks get lost, or when the roads are particularly precarious.
 |
| Still couldn't imagine being anywhere else :) |
is meat, and I have been chugging more water and electrolytes than I know what to do with. Sunscreen and staying out of direct sun generally are a must, showering, even if all I want to do is also a must (for myself and everyone around me.) I'm getting into an incredibly satisfying and healthy rhythm, and I believe it will keep me in tip top shape for the next three weeks. Not to mention I assume I will be coming back looking like tan GI Jane with all the lifting I'm doing in the trucks, and all the crunches I'm doing so my back can do the lifting. :)
I honestly would not choose to be anywhere else at this moment, and that is an amazing feeling.
Will try and write more later, the dorms just switched over to 24/7 electricity so I should have a bit more access!
Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo
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