Hurricane Relief: Update From Afya

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The Afya Foundation continues to send medical and health supplies to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to help recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Their most recent shipments have been on flights chartered by the UJA Federation of New York and the Jewish Federations of North America, donated by the Greater New York Hospital Association.

"We're incredibly grateful for our partners who have made it possible to achieve what were once unimaginable goals in areas affected by the storms," said Danielle Butin, director of the Yonkers-based international charity. "We're amazed by the resilience of the communities we have been invited into, and the heroes who are almost singlehandedly saving countless lives. And we're blessed for our supporters, who generously donate time, assistance, and resources so that we can move mountains together."

She sent an email to the organization's friends with one highlight — a story from Puerto Rico.

A Story From the Field:

We have been traveling through Puerto Rico to nursing homes and assisted care facilities for the last few months with the Department of Justice. I love it when the the opportunity to return to my clinical roots as an Occupational Therapist presents… and these trips have provided that opportunity time and time again. The nursing homes we visited are filled with thirsty, very thirsty and very hot elders, who have been disproportionately affected by the desolation left by Maria.

At one home, I uncovered a walker and taught a shy, grateful eighty-five year old to use it... and helped another in her eighties to rest comfortably against the couch, with foam positioning, to avoid skin breakdown on her spine. And then, there was the one.

Weighing maybe 75 pounds, perched on the corner of the couch, sat this beautiful elder. I kneeled down and spoke calmly and quietly to her and she in turn reached for my hands and clasped my face in her palms. At that moment, I knew she was blind, trying to find me and create an image to match the voice. I asked a translator to work closely beside me. I gave her a bottle of water and taught her how to open and close it with the use of touch. We practiced over and over, together, and once she got it, we nestled more bottles of water into the couch next to her.

Next… I asked, “How are you?”

Pause… Long pause. “Lonely,” she said.

I told her, "If you sit here on the couch every day, someone will always be close…take your right hand and feel for the person next to you…you may feel alone but another is just seconds away.”

She took a chance and with her thin arm reached for a sense of community and found it, instantly. Her neighbor, also in her eighties, responded by giggling, whispering to her in Spanish, and cradling the thin searching hand in both of her own.

In the worst of times, beauty still shows its hand, generously.

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, we at Afya are grateful for the opportunity to aid in this relief work, and for the tangible and intangible comforts that surround us every day. Life, as we know it, can change in an instant... but the support of friends and community can help to overcome even the most challenging of times. Thank you for helping us to continue making the difference both here and abroad, for the health of our environment and the well being of thousands of people in need.

PHOTO/ Danielle Butin