To The Editor:
Hurricane Fiona tore across Puerto Rico on September 21, bringing massive flooding and mudslides across the island, and severely damaging the already shaky electrical grid. A week later, over 1.5 million people are still without power and losing hope of electricity being restored any time soon.
Amurtel’s Solar Outreach System (SOS) trailers stationed in San Juan for just this kind of situation, have been deployed to neighborhoods in Salinas, one of the hardest hit areas, and providing the community there with the ability to purify up to 600 gallons of water a day, and charge cellphones, devices and small appliances and power tools. In other communities, Amurtel volunteers are going door to door, distributing solar lanterns to families without generators or any other source of light. Each of the solar lanterns also has a USB port, so families are able to charge their phones and use them to check up on the well-being of other family members and make contact with resources that can help with food and medicine. Amurtel is especially focusing on providing solar lights to those elderly residents who are living alone or are in remote areas, as they are at greatest risk of falling in the dark.
If you would like to help provide more solar lanterns to our neighbors in Puerto Rico, tax- deductible donations can be sent to Amurtel, P.O. Box 232, Warren, VT 05674, or through our website: www.amurtel.org.
Thank you all for you continued support.
Joni Zweig, president
Amurtel
