Dear friends in Puerto Rico.  I have good news.  Since the first “estamos bien” messages that have appeared on my screen after Maria, I have been looking for effective ways to help dear friends in need. I understand how traumatic it is to get thru a hurricane.  I was there for George in 1998, which was nothing compared to Maria.  And I also know that delivering aid is not easy.  So I thought the most effective way for me to help would be by making deposits on the bank accounts of people very dear to my heart who accompanied me in my 20 years of life in Puerto Rico. Today I have confirmation that this works.  A dear friend just texted me that she was able to buy a generator with moneys donated by friends everywhere, including me.  With her fragile health, this implement is key.

So I write this post to propose this as a way to help and also to invite all my friends to let me know of your needs so that I can, for what is possible, attend them.  Please speak up and I will listen. The island of Puerto Rico and all its people have been great gifts to me, when I moved there 20 years ago.  My current retirement income comes for the most part from work done there.  It’s only fair that I should return the gift at a time of special need.

The systems I’ve used are People Pay and Pay Pal. People Pay is easy, goes from bank account to bank account.  One needs all the info of the bank account of the person on the receiving end. This information can be sent bit by bit, so as to minimize hacking risks.  Once it’s in the system repeat sends are easy.  For Pay Pal, the email account connected with the Pay Pal account of the recipient is key.  Please don’t be afraid to ask. It’s important for a giver to know that the gift really reaches its destination and is useful.  Your request is in itself a gift, of trust and truthfulness.  I will do what i can to respond. Sending a personal message is good.  Thank you!

I want to thank all the people, entities, communities who are helping in the aftermath of Maria. Recovering from a hurricane is not easy.  Even when you have freedom of commerce and can receive aid from those nearby (as in no Jones Act) and a motherland that really treats you as an equal (as in not the USA under the Trumpanzees).

There is no doubt that Maria was a super hurricane whose violence was a direct result of the global issues the Trump clan refuses to confront.  Climate change is real.

In offering this very modest pledge, it is my hope that together we may envision a very different Puerto Rico.  One where people feel very proud of their neighbors in the Caribbean; where the sunshine brings abundant renewable energy; where the extensive growing seasons bring abundance of local, in season, and fresh foods; and where people feel freer to evolve our potential for leadership in environmental justice, in the co-creation of loving societies based on collaboration and sustainability.

When I post this picture of the beautiful day we spent on Playa Azul on January 25, 2015, co-creating the first Plural Wedding of Ecosexual Love in the Caribbean (and the world), it’s not that I want to memorialize something that isn’t any more.  Rather that I want to envision many such collaborative projects where sharing resources produces the love and abundance we all wish.  Will you hold that vision with me?

The film we made that day is now complete.  Playa Azul I Love You is available at no cost at this link.
You can also find the trailer here.
And the intro we prepared for Bridges, the International Film Festival in Greece.
Enjoy!
Thank you.
aka Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, PhD
Erstwhile Professor of Humanities and Cinema at UPRM
Convenor of Practices of Ecosexuality: A Symposium
Fellow at the Humanities Institute, University of Connecticut, Storrs (2012-13)
Project: “Amorous Visions: Ecosexual Perspectives on Italian Cinema”

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