Sarah's Joys

Intro: Our team was featured in this CNN article yesterday: Puerto Rican Sisterhood  This is footage of Maria from the window of my room one year ago today - Maria Movie  You can see more of my photos from the time of the hurricane below. ************************************************************* A year and a month ago, following the call of the Island and listening to my intuition, I moved to Puerto Rico. My only plans were to study Spanish, learn more about my Borinquen roots, and find out if anyone on the island was working with sustainable and organic farming practices. A year and a day ago a friend, who works in the FAA, advised that I should drive to the city of Ponce in the south hoping Maria would not be hitting that side of the Island as bad. At that time I had almost finished school at ISLA Language and was looking forward to WOOFING on a farm in Rio Grande to learn more about the farming practices on the island. Irma had hit a couple weeks before, A...

A year ago I packed my bags and moved to an enchanted Island, only knowing that I would focus on learning Spanish and attempt to find out how to help the sustainable agriculture movement.  The events that changed my life forever, including hurricane Maria, I could never have planned or prepared for. Puerto Rico transformed me, and especially over the last month I feel as if I am a new creation.  While I had felt that I would be making Puerto Rico my home base for a few years, I’ve realized that may not be what is best after all. This island is now as much a part of me as I am a part of it. I am a proud Boriqua and my ancestors from here still have much to teach me.  While I’ve decided to move back home to Austin, I will never truly leave Puerto Rico and I am blessed to have met and made some great friends and “farmily” along the way. I will be back early next year and will be spending time, when it makes sense, to continue working in acting and collaboration ...

*Note- you can read all my email/blogs online if the format in this email is wonky! The content of this email will be up hopefully within the week-  https://sarahjoypr.blogspot.com/ *Note 2 - SO many things have happened since I wrote what I did below. Stay tuned for another update soon.  ———————————————————————————————————— It’s 11:31 p.m. on Thursday 7/19, and despite being super sleepy about an hour ago I am now wide awake. It has been so long since I’ve written to you all,  I hardly know where to begin. Let me start by explaining what has become of my initial efforts after the hurricane and where all of the fundraising money has gone.  The start up idea we had for Alivio Verde was beautiful and the seeds that were planted for that effort are still bearing fruit in the small backyard gardens. As I began to connect with other farmers, philanthropists, and revolutionaries around the island I realized that my time, effort, resources, and funding...

April 26, 2018 Over the last two days, I’ve slept quite a bit. I sense this is the beginning of my digestive process, as I've been barreling forward since I landed in Puerto Rico after my “meet baby Isaac and move all the things from Austin" trip in March. The room I’m renting in Guaynabo for now has much more of a homey feeling--mostly since I’ve now got Sofiya with me, my fluffy partner in crime for the last 10 years. ;) So, what have I been up to? At the beginning of April, the Fondos de Resiliencia team sat together for a formal meeting. During that time we learned more about our grand vision, core values, and worked to define each persons role within the team. I requested to be heavily involved in the seed-to-forest part of our program since that connects me to my passion for working with the earth. What does mean? I can only begin to explain it as--working towards a revolution. This is no small-scale or short-sighted project. The scope of what this team/program...

February 9, 2018 I want to preface this post with the fact that as of today 2/9/18,  status.pr states that 20% of Puerto Rico is without power. I believe this is a gross understatement. There are still volunteers traveling daily to parts of the island without water or power. Most of the traffic lights in Cupey, where I live, are still out. There is progress, but we are far from being out of the dark. ️ As the pieces slowly fall into place, a sense of amazement washes over me. A few days ago, I celebrated the Lunar New Year by rearranging the furniture in my room. Not only did this open the room up to make it more inviting, I believe it has opened my life up to allow the flow to move faster. I’ve mentioned in my previous posts about Tara Rodriguez and the amazing work she’s doing on the island. Through connecting with her, I’ve met another amazing woman named Mara Nieves. These women are visionaries and revolutionaries. I worked with both women a few weeks back during ...

February 22, 2018 Hello dear ones, I’ve got some news to share that you may have been expecting for some time, or may be shocked to hear. No, no--I’m not pregnant! I am however on a flight to Austin, hoping I'll get there to see my newest family member enter the world. My cousins Melissa and Scott are expecting their first child, Isaac--any moment now! Mostly for occasions such as this, I'll be returning to the mainland for the foreseeable future. After these next two weeks in Austin, I will be moving to Puerto Rico... permanently! Over the last year my soul purpose, sense of self awareness, and vision for the future have all come into clearer focus. This has been a year of allowing myself the time and space to really consider what it is I'm here for, what brings my soul a sense of worth, and how I can be the change I wish to see in the world. All of that digging and following the flow of my intuition has lead me to this enchanting island. The roots in the earth...

November 10, 2017 The Absence It's been a little over two weeks since I left the island. Despite the comfort of a hot shower, the delight of eating a cold salad, and the joy of embracing my loved ones... I feel incomplete. The seeds that were planted in San Juan are all growing and as a keeper of the earth, it is hard to be away from my seed babies! I want to water them, sing them songs, pull away the weeds, and learn all about the new plants we're growing that I've never cultivated before. I know that this time is crucial, especially considering that when I return to Puerto Rico it is very likely the places I'm staying may not have power still. During this time I am working on creating a lot of content for our Alivio Verde: Green Re-leaf social media campaigns. This is really the heart of what our business is about, sharing information to those who are seeking better, healthier solutions. I'd like to ask on a personal note... what troubles you? What...