A Paradise with Hades Lyrics and Broken Dreams

Sitting in front of a church in the plaza on a typical weekday morning in Vieques, Puerto Rico, I cannot help but notice the children around me. They are not playing with each other or interacting with the nature that surrounds them. Instead, their attention is fixed on the screens in their hands, their fingers rapidly typing away. A single thought occupies my mind: Why aren’t these kids in school?

What brought me to this small municipality of Puerto Rico this time was a program designed to support school personnel, teachers, and parents. The goal was to raise awareness about mental health warning signs and to help distinguish between typical adolescent behavior and signs of deeper issues. Our mission was to connect students in need with resources within their schools. However, as I sat in the middle of the community, the focus of our trip abruptly shifted.

It wasn’t just the children’s disconnected interactions with the world around them that struck me—it was the fact that the schools themselves were closed. Puerto Rico is grappling with the monumental task of rebuilding homes destroyed by natural disasters, but perhaps an even greater crisis looms: the lack of access to education for its students.

While the island continues to recover from Hurricane María—the most catastrophic hurricane in Caribbean history—it is also enduring increased seismic activity, which has caused widespread power outages and structural damage. A month later, many families are still living in shelters or camping tents outside their homes. While some schools were affected, most were not. No schools sustained direct damage in Vieques, yet the main schools remain closed. The question is: why?

The challenges here extend beyond education. Nearly three years after Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico, Vieques still does not have a functioning hospital. Access to consistent healthcare remains a dire issue. Specialists like pediatricians, psychiatrists, and gynecologists visit sporadically to provide care, but these services are insufficient.

In the plaza where children wait for school to reopen, thousands of poured concrete blocks are scattered across the square. Each block bears a name—a poignant call for better health services on the island. This grassroots memorial was created after a teen tragically died in January due to the lack of adequate healthcare services. The scene encapsulates Vieques’s ongoing struggle: a never-ending cycle of public health and infrastructure disparities.

The forgotten island continues to suffer the devastating effects of neglect. Lack of access to education, healthcare, and basic resources is not just a local issue but a violation of fundamental human rights. As Americans, advocates, and global citizens, it is our duty to raise awareness and challenge these inequities.

As I sit here, countless thoughts and lyrics echo in my mind:

"Aquí no hay na… la Marina lo tiene to’.” "Este pueblo no se ahoga con marullos...Y si se derrumba, yo lo reconstruyo."

These words, like the blocks in the plaza, remind us of the resilience and ongoing fight for justice on this island.