Long-term Resilience Building in Dominica

The IsraAID team is now assessing how to assist the island in its longer-term recovery.

Six months after Hurricane Maria, more than 100,000 people still lack electricity, 60,000 homes remain damaged and many people have no access to safe water. During the hurricane, 1.2 billion trees were destroyed, including 18 million coffee trees, and 80% of the island’s agriculture was damaged. It could take up to ten years for the coffee trees to begin to regrow.

Together with local partners, IsraAID has focused on the south-east of the island, notably Barrio Real, one of the communities hardest hit by the hurricane.

Our activities

Water, sanitation and hygiene

IsraAID has partnered with the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and the community of Barrio Real to build a new gravitational sand filtration system, ensuring safe drinking water that does not require electricity. Barrio Real has been without electricity since Hurricane Maria, and the community’s only safe water source was an electric well. Construction is scheduled to begin soon.

Mental health support

IsraAID has collaborated with the Jewish community of Puerto Rico to strengthen community resilience and help develop sustainable responses to trauma and crises. This includes self-care workshops, psychological first aid training and group activities, like expressive arts.

Our team has conducted professional development workshops with PhD Psychology students at Ponce University, teaching them how to use expressive therapy tools, such as art and drama therapy.

IsraAID’s mental health professionals have also been running support workshops for local professionals from ASPIRA, an organization providing educational support for vulnerable students from low income backgrounds. Since the hurricane, ASPIRA have noticed an increase in their students’ challenging behavior. IsraAID’s team is training ASPIRA staff in how to help their students build personal resilience.

Case Study

Doña Chefa is 88 years old. She’s a mother of four and grandmother of 30! She has lived in the small, rural community of Barrio Real, in the mountains of Puerto Rico, all her life. The nearest doctor is a 30-minute drive away and the nearest shops are a 30-minute walk up the mountain.

Hurricane Maria devastated Barrio Real. Almost every roof was blown away, and many homes were flooded. Worse still, the hurricane had damaged the community's electric well - its only supply of safe drinking water. Doña Chefa had to wait for seven days to get bottled water. In the meantime, she was forced to drink water from the river, even though she knew it was unsafe.

Six months later, the residents of Barrio Real are still without electricity, and their well is still damaged and unable to run.

IsraAID’s team in Puerto Rico has provided water filters to Barrio Real, allowing the community to have potable water. To reach a lasting, sustainable solution to this problem, IsraAID has partnered with the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico to build a new gravitational sand filtration system. When it is built, Doña Chefa and her whole community will have safe drinking water without the need for electricity.

More updates to follow! Thank you for your support!