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Torres: Aid mission is how I #helpPuertoRico, my ancestral home

John Torres
Florida Today

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — I tried not to notice Hurricane Maria and the way she manhandled Puerto Rico, the island of my ancestors, that many extended family members still call home.

John Torres on his way to the Dominican Republic as part of an aid mission to Puerto Rico

Was it hurricane exhaustion? Harvey had pummeled Houston and Irma took out just about all of Florida. Was it selfishness? I have a fence to replace and other storm-related repairs to make on my home. Or was it something deeper, maybe guilt?

More:What it's like to live in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria | Guest column

More:U.S. braces for potentially large numbers of evacuees from Puerto Rico

My mother was born in Aguas Buenas, on a small farm in the area just west of Caguas. I’ve heard the charming stories of walking to school without shoes, of washing clothes in the stream and what happens when you get to attached to some of the farm animals.

I knew all about how she moved to a strange, cold environment known as New York when she was a teenager because even back then the economy on the small island had difficulty sustaining its people.

I knew my dad’s family – from the western city of Mayaguez – were lovable and eccentric. I knew how family members from both sides would fawn over me whenever we’d see them. I even had an uncle who learned that I had an affinity for flan and he made an entire tray for me – in addition to the tray he set out for everyone else.

We visited a few times when I was a kid and I still hold such fond memories of everyone.

And then I went to college and grew up and all those relatives that once seemed so important to me turned into yellowing photographs in my mind. The last time I visited the island, 1998, I didn’t even bother to look anyone up.

So maybe when Maria struck, I just put my head in the sand and wished it all to go away so I wouldn’t feel like I do. But it hasn’t gone away. It is not going away anytime soon and people – loved ones and complete strangers – are suffering and will continue to do so.

I have an aunt – in her 80s now – who has been without power since Hurricane Irma skirted the island two weeks before Maria struck. My dad has been unable to reach his eccentric, lovable clan on the West Coast.

This is real.

This is not going away.

And so, when my old buddy, Titusville missionary and humanitarian Joe Hurston, said he might be able to squeeze me on his plane to deliver water purifiers and thousands of dollars’ worth of other much-needed supplies I jumped at the chance.

When I say "squeezed in," I’m not exaggerating. Joe’s plane is a Cessna 337. It has a propeller in the front and one in the back. It looks like someone cut a plane in half and decided to put another engine in the rear.

I’ve traveled with him in that plane to report on his work for Airmobile Ministries serving the suffering in Haiti, New Orleans and the Dominican Republic. We also traveled to Indonesia together only days after the 2004 tsunami.

More:Students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands getting tuition break at EFSC

More:Florida Tech alum, actor spearhead relief mission to Puerto Rico

Now we took it to bring relief and supplies to the people of Puerto Rico and maybe I can bring some of their stories back with me. We spent Tuesday night in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, a 22-minute flight from the underserved west coast of Puerto Rico, where Joe will be working.

I doubt I will be able to see any of my relatives. But maybe they will hear that I came to help in some small way and maybe they will know that I have not forgotten them.

Contact Torres at 321-242-3684

or jtorres@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @johnalbertorres

Facebook: /ftjohntorres

The Cessna 337

9 a.m. Oct. 4 update:

Torres filmed a FLORIDA TODAY Facebook Live on Oct. 4, documenting his arrival to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Here are some key points from his report:

• Torres is traveling with Joe Hurston, president of Air Mobile Ministries, a Titusville-based nonprofit organization that flies around the world to provide medical supplies, food and other cargo to areas hit by disaster.

• Air Mobile Ministries also brings compact water purification systems to areas in need. That's their primary mission in Puerto Rico.

• The crew has 10 water purifiers in tow, which Hurston says can provide fresh water to 10,000 people per day and last for months.

• Torres and crew planned to travel back and forth from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico for a few days, staying in Punta Cana overnight and traveling to Aguadilla only during the day to distribute water and other cargo. However, they were told each time they land in Punta Cana, a $750 landing fee would be assessed.

• Now, Torres says his reporting may be sparse while they camp out in Aguadilla, likely without power or cell phone service.