Dear family,
As I'm sure you all know, the islands in the caribbean have had an especially rough time of it lately with first Hurricane Irma and then Hurricane Maria coming through. My heart goes out to everyone affected by these catastrophic storms, and particularly to our Wahnam family in Puerto Rico, where the infrastructure is so badly damaged that experts estimate the people there will be without electricity for 4-6 months(!). I read a report this morning that there are nearly 10,000 shipping containers of aid materials at the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, but damage to roads, fuel shortages, and a lack of truck drivers is making their distribution problematic.
1) has anyone heard from Angel or any of our other Puerto Rican Wahnam family? I would like to know firstly that everyone is ok and secondly what they need most/how best we can help. (I will also DM him in case he can access the forum.)
2) what if anything are you doing to help? I have read some wonderful articles that list various charities that are especially supporting Puerto Rico and the islands in different ways. I gave some money to the American Red Cross when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, and am preparing another donation for them or another charity for helping the islands, but I would love to hear about other impactful ways we can help out. Christina and I have been batting around some other ideas, too, like a one-off Chi Kung workshop fundraiser with all proceeds going to support hurricane relief in the islands.
This situation is personal for me, partly because our Wahnam family is affected, and partly because having spent most of my adult life riding out or evacuating from hurricanes and tropical storms in New Orleans and Florida. I have experienced what these storms can do and, at times, I have made peace with the destruction they were likely to bring me. Luckily, I have so far escaped with just minor loss, but what the folks in the islands are living through is the nightmare scenario of everyone who lives in hurricane-prone areas. And while it's true that most of us choose to live in these areas, at least in the States, just about anywhere you live is threatened by some sort of natural disaster, whether it be tornados, earthquakes, volcanos, floods, fires, mudslides, or hurricanes.
As I'm sure you all know, the islands in the caribbean have had an especially rough time of it lately with first Hurricane Irma and then Hurricane Maria coming through. My heart goes out to everyone affected by these catastrophic storms, and particularly to our Wahnam family in Puerto Rico, where the infrastructure is so badly damaged that experts estimate the people there will be without electricity for 4-6 months(!). I read a report this morning that there are nearly 10,000 shipping containers of aid materials at the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, but damage to roads, fuel shortages, and a lack of truck drivers is making their distribution problematic.
1) has anyone heard from Angel or any of our other Puerto Rican Wahnam family? I would like to know firstly that everyone is ok and secondly what they need most/how best we can help. (I will also DM him in case he can access the forum.)
2) what if anything are you doing to help? I have read some wonderful articles that list various charities that are especially supporting Puerto Rico and the islands in different ways. I gave some money to the American Red Cross when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, and am preparing another donation for them or another charity for helping the islands, but I would love to hear about other impactful ways we can help out. Christina and I have been batting around some other ideas, too, like a one-off Chi Kung workshop fundraiser with all proceeds going to support hurricane relief in the islands.
This situation is personal for me, partly because our Wahnam family is affected, and partly because having spent most of my adult life riding out or evacuating from hurricanes and tropical storms in New Orleans and Florida. I have experienced what these storms can do and, at times, I have made peace with the destruction they were likely to bring me. Luckily, I have so far escaped with just minor loss, but what the folks in the islands are living through is the nightmare scenario of everyone who lives in hurricane-prone areas. And while it's true that most of us choose to live in these areas, at least in the States, just about anywhere you live is threatened by some sort of natural disaster, whether it be tornados, earthquakes, volcanos, floods, fires, mudslides, or hurricanes.
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