¡Luego de 112 días, HA VUELTO LA LUZ! 💡 Alegría indiscutible de todos los que formamos parte de la ABPN. Agradecemos a todos los padres, estudiantes y personal, que ante esta situación han permanecido y nos han continuado respaldando.
Posted by Academia Bautista de Puerto Nuevo [1] on Thursday, January 11, 2018
Students at a school in Puerto Rico are overjoyed to have their school's power back on 112 days after Hurricane Maria caused widespread devastation across the island [2]. The Academia Bautista de Puerto Nuevo [3], a K-12 private school in San Juan, shared a video on Facebook that captured the students' ecstatic reactions after they flipped the light switches. "We are grateful to all parents, students, and staff, who have remained and continued to support this situation," the school included in its caption of the video.
The video shows young students, teachers, and staff screaming in delight, jumping with joy, and ringing bells to celebrate the return of electricity. For the last three months, this school (among others in Puerto Rico) has operated without electricity [4], Cincinnati's WCPO reports. People watching the video can't help but notice how simultaneously heartwarming and depressing the video of the children, who are US citizens [5], is.
These are Americans. Excited over electricity! Let that sink in. We need to take a look at what's NOT being done for Puerto Rico. https://t.co/puPOtCrBYd [6]
— Sarah Fili (@SarahFiliKETV) January 16, 2018 [7]
This is both exciting and depressing (that it took this long). Still 30%+ of people without power. https://t.co/rQWbMzFZ7n [8]
— Nicholas Conger (@Nick_Conger) January 16, 2018 [9]
In late December, The New York Times reported that about half of Puerto Ricans were still without power [11], and some parts of the island might not have it until spring. This video of innocent, happy children at school is a reminder that the effects of Maria are far from over, and there's always more we can do to help [12].