The Sato Project 2019 Program Report

The crisis is not over.
But thanks to our generous supporters, we are
still in the ring, fighting harder than ever.
For many, Hurricane Maria never ended.
September 20, 2017 is a date that will stay imprinted
in Puerto Rican history forever. The entire island was
left in the dark (nearly three million people) in what
became the longest blackout in U.S. history. Overnight,
hundreds of thousands of residents were left homeless.
Thousands more were left without access to basic
necessities like safe drinking water and medical
care. Hurricane Maria officially claimed the lives of
almost 3,000 people. The causes of these deaths were
exacerbated by the slow recovery process, a process that
continues to be marred by bureaucratic red tape, poor
management, and lack of political will.
Until this summer’s wave of protests and political
upheaval on the island, the national media had largely
moved on from Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria.
But for many of us still living on the island, the
storm’s effects are still being felt. The island’s power
capacity has still not returned to 100%. What has
been repaired remains unstable and outages are still a
weekly occurrence in our team’s homes and veterinary
offices, sometimes lasting as long as 24 hours. Tens of
thousands of residents are still living under FEMA-
distributed blue tarps, instead of roofs. The healthcare
system is fragile and under-funded.
Food insecurity rates for families in Puerto Rico are
estimated to be over triple that of the mainland. Almost
half of Puerto Rican families with children under the
age of 18 are dependent on food stamps for survival.
According to U.S. Census data, at least 130,000 people
left the island after the hurricane. Since the slow
recovery process has brought little improvement to job
security or quality of life, many people are still leaving.
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THE SATO PROJECT PROGRAM UPDATE | SEPTEMBER 2019