On MONDAY we went to the home of Mr. Patricio. He has lived in the same house for decades, raising his children and caring for his extended family. He gets both electricity and water by running lines from his neighbors. He petitioned FEMA for assistance for more than two years seeking aid to repair his home which suffered damage during Hurricane Maria. After repeated denials he gave up trying. A social worker, doing a wellness check on him just weeks prior to our arrival found him very despondent. He even shared with the social worker that he had contemplated suicide. The social worker made the decision to try another method to help Mr. Patricio and enlisted the aid of missionaries like the Lott Carey/Alfred Street team. Using funds available to team, we were able to purchase supplies for him. And then we showed up to help him repair the damaged.
The man our team encountered was quite different than the one described by the social worker. Mr. Patricio was outgoing, friendly, funny, and engaging. He told the team what he wanted to accomplish, showed us how he wanted it done, then stood back and allowed us to perform the tasks. When we didn’t do it the way he wanted it done, he made fun of us, showed us the correct way, then stood back encouraging us and nodding his head in admiration.
By the end of our work day we knew we had accomplished more than work…we had restored his faith in humanity, and we had gained a friend.
We started our TUESDAY working on the farm run by Eric. He asked us to help him get a field ready for replanting. Although temperatures exceeded 100 degrees it was rewarding work. We took the opportunity to walk through his greenhouse to view some of the plants he has been cultivating at the end of our time with him.
The second half of our day the team split up. Half went to the senior citizen center and the other group went back to Mr. Patricio’s home to help him lay the remaining flooring. When we arrived we noticed he had already completed some additional work but was patiently waiting on US to finish the work we didn’t complete yesterday.
Toward the end of our work day Mr. Patricio jokingly inquired whether we would be back on the job the next day. We spent a little time with his horses and taking our last photos before we headed back to the guest house.