Gesher Goes to Puerto Rico

Today was the best day to end our work in Puerto Rico! In the morning we spilt into two groups as we did in the previous days. We started the morning learning about and participating in a Zen Buddhism Meditation session. Next, we broke off into two groups. The group that stayed back at the meditation center, power washed, labeled plants in the garden, and painted around the campus. The group that went to the school in the morning, worked on finishing up the murals and the library. After a delicious traditional Puerto Rico lunch, the whole group went over to the school to put the finishing touches on the murals around the school. After twenty people and three hours of working hard, we finished all the murals and the library we were making. Together as a group we took many pictures and filled the shelves in the new library with books that had we brought from Westchester. After we went back to the center and rested, followed by a delicious final diner in Puerto Rico. The night ended with a bonfire, eating ring pops and sharing highlights.

Another fantastic day in Puerto Rico! Today the two groups switched places and the group that painted the walls in the school now worked to help improve the Centro Zen Meditation Center. The group painted a roof, fence, planted pineapples and made a bench. While working today the group had some complications with bugs. While trying to paint the roof there were big spiders and had to come up with creative ways to get the spots that were blocked by the huge spiders. After finishing up our work we took showers and went off to visit the JCC of Puerto Rico. There we learned more about the Jewish history in this US territory. We were able to relate to the Judaism that they have here even though society is different from where we lived. Before heading back to Cento Zen, we stopped at a Walmart and had a fun experience.

            It was another adventurous day today, starting off with an opportunity to interact with kids. Volunteers who worked at the Zen Center yesterday were given the opportunity to paint at the school where the other group had worked at. Today, the school was filled with students who were eager to learn after having a day off. They were invited to paint alongside us, filling in the drawings of the muralist, Javi. With a positive attitude, Javi encouraged the students to either paint within his drawings or create flowers as a background for the mural. The art stood out against the vibrant colors of the walls that had previously been painted, adding excitement to the room. People were also able to paint the walls of another room in the school, in addition to doing construction. Upon viewing the murals, kids were amazed at the work of their fellow classmates and volunteers. The work done at the school left us with an overall sense of accomplishment, happy that we were able to help people.

Today we began our work here. Our group split in half to work at two different sites. Below are reflections from each site.

What an amazing first day of work in Puerto Rico! The group that went to the school was surprised by the conditions the kids must learn in, especially since we had learned it was a private school. The school provided education from preschool to seventh grade and some grades had to share both a classroom and teacher. To make the environment more comfortable for the kids, we worked with a talented artist, Javi, to create a mural for the students. We started off the day with painting the dull, yellow walls in the main social area with vibrant shades of yellow, pink, orange, and red to create a fun base for the murals that will be painted on by the students in the days to come. Some of us also helped clean out a room filled with equipment that was not being put to use due to the lack of a physical education teacher. We hope by the end of the trip this room will be transformed into a library for all the children to use. When we returned to the school after eating lunch at the Centro Zen, we worked on painting the backdrop for the murals that will be made on the outside of the school near the playground. We enjoyed painting very much and conversing with the directors of the school, Carmen and Arthur, who at first were nervous of the turn out of our projects but filled with joy after they had seen everything coming to life at the end of the day.

Today was a fun filled day, as we got to work on projects which were very rewarding. The day began with work, involving painting and construction at Centro Zen. People were given the opportunity to help in building a fence, power wash algae covered stairs, and paint a gazebo. The meditation center was recently restored after sustaining damage from Hurricane Maria, which created a lot of destruction throughout Puerto Rico. There is a tightly knit community of people who work at the center, however it was helpful to have extra hands. The work involved collaboration among all of the volunteers, but it was rewarding knowing that we were helping people who were affected by Hurricane Maria. In order to add to the serene atmosphere that the Zen Center was providing, we were cleaning it up, in addition to adding to the aesthetic appeal. For some of the volunteers, a highlight in the day was planting trees in the garden, since they found it to be a special place for them, where they felt calm. After a break, the group painted markers for plants, in addition to painting the newly built fence. Ending off the day by painting the fence in the garden allowed for overall reflection and admiration for the results of today’s work.

Wow today has been a crazy day! Our day started by meeting at the airport at 6am for our 8am flight. Check in went smoothly but then there was a long line at security. Our Gesher group had to be separated to go into two different lines. Sarah’s group was stuck in a slow line for security and Sarah somehow had to figure out how to get to the front of the line, so we did not miss our flight. After that little complication the rest of the travel went smoothly, and we landed in Puerto Rico early. After getting off the plane the group was able to take a group picture with Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who was on our flight. We then went to get our bags which they ended up making us check in and then proceeded to “Centro Zen.” The group was met by the workers who are going to help us with the projects, followed by a tour of the property and lunch. The rest of the day was just hanging out and bonding. Some even attended a yoga session, one of the attendees says, “that it was relaxing and a fun experience.” The rest of the night was dedicated to eating a delicious dinner and watching an exciting movie to learn more about Puerto Rico. Good night!