To all our Community Members in Puerto Rico and Abroad, 

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We write with a strong sense of urgency to seek aid at these difficult times for our Island. 

On January 7, 2020 at 4:20AM, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter off the southwestern coast of the island shook Puerto Rico and its people out of their beds to find themselves before a new, unfamiliar natural phenomenon for which the great majority of us were woefully unprepared.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/us/puerto-rico-earthquake.html

The island’s entire power grid was knocked offline as the system’s seismic safeguards sought to protect the infrastructure from a larger catastrophe. As daylight broke, people started to assess the damages. To the southwest, near the epicenter, many houses had collapsed under the pressure of the quake, demolishing peoples’ homes, cars, and livelihoods in a matter of seconds. Many roads were rendered inaccessible, and public buildings, such as hospitals and schools, went from being safe havens to fatal traps overnight. 

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One school building in Guánica that had recently been inspected by government authorities and deemed to be safe, catastrophically collapsed, laying bare not only the precarious conditions that much of our public infrastructure is currently in, but also how the fatal negligence that many of our public authorities continue to practice erodes Puerto Rican’s confidence to surmount these natural phenomena and forge a stronger, safer, more resilient future.

https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/sorprendidosenguanicaporelderrumbedeescuelaintermedia-2539296/

All of this seems uncannily similar to the situation we faced with Hurricane María 2 ½ years ago: while we are perfectly able to weather storms and natural disasters, it is the aftermath, and our public infrastructure and political crisis that seriously puts us at a mortal disadvantage against the odds. Despite the heroic labor of rescue workers and power authority engineers to restore some sense of normalcy, Puerto Rico has not stopped shaking. Around ⅕ of the island is still without power, and just hours ago, after hundreds of replicas since January 7, another 5.99-magnitude quake shook the entire island, aggravating fears of a larger catastrophe. 

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People in the southwest have refused to go back and sleep inside their homes, and are now going into their fourth day of sleeping out on the street, without proper food, shelter, or basic necessities to cover their needs. Many across the south and center of the island are now homeless. Parents fear for the start of the semester, they refuse to send their children to a school like the one that collapsed in Guánica. Many are without electricity or running water. There is no guarantee of safety in the immediate horizon.

This is why Tabonuco is partnering up with its fiscal sponsor organization, HASER, to set up solar-powered stations to relieve refugees in the most affected areas. Amid the uncertainty and anticipatory fear that seismic events create, solar power efficiently eliminates the single, most dreaded scenario Puerto Ricans face in a natural disaster: prolonged and sustained energy insecurity before, during, and after the event. Our team is ready to purchase and install a small-scale system, as well as educate people of all ages on the principles of solar energy. For every $5,000 Tabonuco will set up a self-standing solar system and a workshop on operation and maintenance for those directly benefiting from it. All donations will be used solely for solar equipment, since the installation and workshop will be provided by affiliates of our organization and Tabonuco will not retain any funds for any other purposes. 

We are asking for cash donations to be directed through our fiscal sponsor, made through PayPal or Check, and marked “Tabonuco-Earthquake”. 

For checks, include "Tabonuco - Earthquake" in memo and send to:

Tabonuco-Haser
PO Box 368035
San Juan, PR
00936-8035

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Please visit HASER’s donation page to make your contribution:  

http://www.hasercambio.org/en/donate/ 

Everything counts. The people of Puerto Rico are depending on your accustomed solidarity. 

My sincerest gratitude, 

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Edgardo Tormos Bigles
Board Director

Tabonuco

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