Spring break in Puerto Rico? After María, that means 'rebuild,' not 'relax'
Mallory Gibson, a music-business major at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), has spent her junior-year spring break surrounded by sand, surf, and palm trees. But her experience has been pretty far from typical.
“This is exactly what I wanted to do,” says Ms. Gibson, who moments earlier put down a nearly two-foot-long machete that she was using to whack apart a fallen palm tree. She’s covered in a thin film of dirt and, like everyone else here, drips sweat under the midday sun. Just a few hundred yards away the Caribbean laps the sandy shore of the Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve, but she won’t dip her toes in the water until her seven-hour work day wraps.
“We’re tackling a small drop in the large ocean of things that need to be done” to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet, she says.
Gibson is the
Working vacationListening with respectYou’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days