Ten TABC students embarked on a journey to Puerto Rico in late February in an effort to help clean up an island devastated by Hurricane Maria. Seven Fair Lawn High students accompanied them.
Chesed Coordinator Jonathan Kessel led the trip. On Wednesday, February 21st, Kessel got all ten students on a plane and the trip was then under way.
Four hours later, the tired yet excited students arrived in humid Puerto Rico and immediately headed over to the Embassy Suites in San Juan, their hotel throughout the entire trip.
The next morning, despite minimal sleep, the students davened Shacharis and then went to the small city of Yabucoa, a place known as the “ground zero” of Hurricane Maria. The group quickly got to work.
The hurricane destroyed many houses in Yabucoa, so TABC thought this would be a great chesed opportunity for its students. The students helped rebuild three houses that had been completely dismantled during the Hurricane.
They worked tirelessly, scratching off old paint, putting on new paint, and otherwise helping with cleanup on Thursday and Friday. When asked asked about the experience, Junior Yoni Bierig said “It was very fulfilling, knowing that I helped someone recover from a tragic event.”
In their spare time, the group toured the beautiful city of San Juan. When asked about his favorite part of the trip, Junior David Reese talked about “when we were actually walking the streets and saw what it was like. I took some pictures of a guy with nine parrots in the street letting people hold them.”
After these jam-packed first two days, the boys enjoyed a relaxing Shabbos. They davened and ate their meals at a nearby Chabad, and they also had some extremely meaningful learning time with the NCSY kids.
Rabbi Kessel was gratified by this interaction. “For the TABC boys to be around and interacting with the NCSY kids from Fair Lawn High, it had a tremendous impact on our guys, and hopefully their guys as to how special our lifestyle is,” said Kessel.
On Shabbos afternoon, the students went back to the hotel and refueled for the rest of their trip. “Shabbos was especially amazing, and it was great when I got to help somebody who is not observant at all [to] open up a Siddur and then daven with a Minyan,” said Junior Josh Jerome.
The group had planned on Sunday morning to go to a farm to help plant trees and settle the land. In the end, this plan did not come to fruition because (contrary to what one might think) farmers in Puerto Rico don’t work on Sundays.
After this disappointment, the group headed off to enjoy Banana Boating, where they cooled off in the water and had an exhilarating experience. They went on a yellow banana shaped tube and were pulled by another boat in all different directions through the waves.
Following this, the students made their way to the Rainforest where they had an adventurous hike. To top off the exciting day, they then went bowling and had some competitive fun.
The boys really enjoyed their eventful time in Puerto Rico but they were also able to learn many lessons. When asked about what he took away from the trip, Bierig said, “Don't take things for granted; we are really lucky to live in a good neighborhood, and our parents can support us.”
Rabbi Kessel echoed this sentiment. “To see guys go out of their comfort zone and make a tremendous Kiddush Hashem, as people were asking us what these things were on our heads, that really hit home for a lot of guys,” said Kessel.