Puerto Rico’s crisis
A CMU student’s inspiring mission to help
Carnegie Mellon University student Rosana Guernica isn’t prepared to put the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria on her native Puerto Rico behind her. An undergrad in decision science, the 22-yearold junior put the abstract concepts of her background in business and economics to work in the real world.
To raise money to chart a private plane to take medical supplies directly to Puerto Rico, Ms. Guernica began a crowdfunding page on the YouCaring website that generated hundreds of responses. That fundraising strategy along with appeals to everyone in her address book and CMU alumni raised $54,400 in a few days.
The chartered plane from Fort Lauderdale cost $19,100. After unloading the desperately needed supplies, Ms. Guernica filled the return flight to Florida with less than a dozen sick people who desperately needed to leave the island for medical attention on the mainland.
While she was in Puerto Rico, Ms. Guernica realized the need for a much larger plane for a second flight to the island with medical supplies and other everyday necessities. She found one for charter for $38,000 that can carry a much bigger payload to Puerto Rico and return 30 passengers to the mainland. She’s still fundraising to finance the trip, but the charter company has agreed to be paid the balance later.
Ms. Guernica has demonstrated the need for creative thinking when it comes to the Puerto Rico crisis, more than three weeks after the island was devastated. The relief effort is not where it should be optimally, so good people like Ms. Guernica have stepped in with their talent and ingenuity to save lives and alleviate suffering.
For all the good she is doing, Ms. Guernica is one person where an army of like-minded people is needed. The needs in the U.S. territory, population 3.5 million, are stark. About 85 percent of the residents lack electricity, 36 percent are without running water and 45 percent have no telecommunication service. It could be four to six months before power is restored. Roads and bridges have collapsed. The death toll has reached 48. As the weeks pass, the sick and injured are increasingly at risk, especially in remote areas, if supply chains cannot bring medicine, food and water.
From the White House briefing room on Thursday, Chief of Staff John Kelly went on the record to tamp down fears that the federal government might slow-walk its obligations to the island. “Our country will stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico until the job is done,” Mr. Kelly said. His deputy, Kirstjen Nielsen, nominated last week as secretary of homeland security, later put a finer point on it: “I also know that this rebuilding will take years, and I want to echo what the president has said many times: We will remain fully engaged in the long recovery effort ahead of us.” On Friday, President Donald Trump tweeted supportive sentiments about Puerto Rico, in contrast to earlier statements; he followed up later that day in a speech at the Values Voter Summit, saying, “They’ve suffered greatly and we’ll be there ... it’s not even a question of choice.”
The federal government will have to take the lead for the forseeable future, and the people and institutions of Puerto Rico will have to rally with all the power they can muster. But Ms. Guernica’s efforts remind us that determined individuals can make a difference, too.
The ties between Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico stretch back to Roberto Clemente’s long years with the Pirates. In that island’s time of need, we owe it to Roberto’s memory to honor projects like Ms. Guernica’s with our support. Not everyone is talented enough to charter a plane and stock it with medical supplies, but Ms. Guernica’s crowdfunding page is a click or two away. Go to youcaring.com and type “CMU Student” into the search box.