Help Norysell Rebuild Her Farm

We met Norysell 20 years ago while traveling in Old San Juan and the three of us became fast friends. After losing touch over time, we found each other on social media and joyously reconnected. It has been such an inspiring adventure to follow Norysell as she raised her beautiful daughter, and built up La Botica de La Tierra, her thriving agroforestry business. After Hurricane Maria, we feared the worst about Norysell, then were so relieved to learn that she and her daughter were safe, and their animals survived. But she lost everything else. Please, read Norysell’s story, and join us in helping rebuild her farm.  

-Noe Kidder, Artist and Estee Pierce, Researcher

Help Norysell Rebuild Her Farm

My name is Norysell Massanet. I am 42 years old. I’m a herdswoman and a single mother, raising my 10-year-old daughter with our small herd of goats, donkeys, and livestock guard dogs.

For the past several years I’ve operated a restoration agriculture project in San Juan called La Botica de La Tierra. I hold workshops on the subjects of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems, teaching about runoff management and soil improvement, regenerative planting, composting, goat, pig and bird breeding, as well as fermentation and preserving (beer, vinegars, wine, breads, cheeses, vegetables).

This past July my daughter and I pursued our lifelong dream, and moved from San Juan to a 14-acre plot in beautiful Cabo Rojo, on Puerto Rico’s southwest coast. We are in the forest by the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge, a territory with diverse ecosystems, mangroves, and coral reefs. We had just begun building our new home as an agroforestry ecosystem, with stables and forest fences. The animals were getting acquainted with the land, as were we, when the hurricane hit.

María came at the moment we were most vulnerable, right after we jumped to pursue our dream of making a living in a forest farm. In 24 hours we lost our not-yet-finished home and stables. Trees fell on our forest fencing system. By a miracle, my herd survived the storm. Since Maria came, I have been living in a makeshift camp with my animals. I was able to send my daughter to stay with her grandmother in New Mexico, but we are desperate to be together.

The first days were the hardest. We were wet, trying to make sense of what happened. As the animals and I settled into camp and the sun dried our wet feet, I came to understand that the timing to transition to the forest was correct. It took great effort to make this move, to follow our dream, and now have nowhere else to go. My background has prepared me for this moment. I can do the work, and I know what needs to be done.

To rebuild, I need your help.

Help me rebuild our home. My family’s home, as well as the home of my animals, needs to be rebuilt. Roofing needs to be replaced. We lack proper structures to shield animals from the rain. The excess humidity on my goats’  and donkeys’ hooves is destructive as it causes them to rot.  We need to install water catchment systems in all structures, with appropriate filters for animal and human water use.

Help me shelter our animals. The fencing system for our pastures is greatly damaged and needs to be redone. Fencing helps me manage grazing, pasture quality, and it helps to ward off parasites. Fencing also provides security from the feral and stray dogs that have gone wild after Maria.

Help me clear fallen trees. To continue to operate La Botica de La Tierra, we will need to clear many fallen trees. If the trees are not attended to, it will limit my income as I cannot plant, or host our  agroforestry workshops.