Rafa Ocasio
Building hope back
When we met Rafa it was common to see him in his wheelchair talking about the days when he was a salsa dancer. It was hard seeing a talented man lose hope. After seeing his house destroyed by Hurricane María, we were tempted to ask what his needs were, but we decided to ask the right question: “What resources do you have?” Rafa got up from his wheelchair and looked in his room for a table made by him.
"I know how to make furniture”, he said standing on his feet and with a smile on his face. And it was at that precise moment that we began to dream together. We agreed to build his house with volunteers while he made pieces of wood that would help us tell the story of his transformation.
Hurricane María left Rafa’s home in bad shape. It was safer to demolish the original wooden structure and start a concrete home from scratch.
More than a thousand volunteers worked on Rafa’s home. Women and men, local and from abroad, made this dream a reality.
Rafa got hands-on. By building and selling furniture, Rafa was able to invest into the construction of his home, a crucial step on the road to development and flourishing.