Lansing resident collecting instruments for Puerto Rico

By Jamie Swinnerton
Tompkins Weekly

 

Lansing resident Deborah Allison is looking for a change, a big one. In just a few weeks she will be moving to Culebra, a small island off the east coast of Puerto Rico with a population of around 1,800 according to census data from 2011. For at least six months she and two of her grandchildren will be living on the island to get something of a fresh start. But they are hardly showing up empty-handed. Through a connection on the island, Allison heard about a local music group for children that she decided she wanted to contribute something to. After her son gifted her a particularly large suitcase she put the call out for musical instruments, small ones, to bring to Fundacion de Culebra; Museo de Culebra.

Two of Allison’s granddaughters, ages 11 and 13, will be moving with her, to be homeschooled by Allison. Her friend already on the island that alerted Allison to the music group told her that since the group is open to anyone her granddaughters could probably join, giving them a chance to socialize with the kids of Culebra.

“It’s been a dream of mine to live on an island,” Allison said. “It’s a pretty small island, I think it’s only about 12 miles long, 1,800 people live there.”

Back in the spring, Allison’s 13-year-old granddaughter was having some trouble in school, a mix of fear sparked by the recent school shootings and bullying were making it hard for her to go to school. These issues kept her out of the classroom for about two weeks. “That’s initially what started the conversation,” Allison said of her granddaughters coming with her.

But the dream of living on an island started long before last spring for Allison, a holistic wellness professional.

“But this has made it come to fruition,” she said. “To take them and give them a break. We’re all getting a break, basically, from what’s going on in our lives. Just going to get back to nature and living simply and making connection.”

This particular island will not be new to Allison’s granddaughters who visited about a year and a half ago. After camping in Flamenco Beach for two weeks the girls were in love with the place. After hearing about this magical place from her grandkids, Allison started looking into moving there. She found a caretaker position that she could fill and the woman who interviewed her for the position soon became a friend. But, the timing just wasn’t right.

Since then, Allison has kept in touch with her friend on the island and when this opportunity to get away for a bit presented itself she took it.

“We found a beautiful little cottage to rent,” Allison said. The woman she is renting from has also become a new friend. “Little by little, people are really friendly and quick to make connections.”

Where she is still working on finding a connection is in the music group itself that she plans on bringing her donated instruments to. She has been trying to connect over Facebook for a while now but is still waiting to hear back.

“My friend that’s there was the one that first told me about it and she said that the girls would love it,” she said. “They do all kinds of music interactions where they’re singing and playing instruments. They’re both artistically inclined so it’s going to be a nice fit for them.”

Recorders, flutes, small violins, these are the kinds of instruments she’s looking for to fill the suitcase. Allison said music is important to her as well, and she appreciates getting back to the basics when it comes to music.

Allison’s online health coaching work will continue after she moves and she plans on starting a monthly Reiki. She works at the United Way of Tompkins County and has offered to be “on call” while away in case the organization needs her help. Allison also makes some money selling CBD oil (abbreviation for cannabidiol, a cannabis compound). Across these three jobs, Allison plans on supporting herself and her grandkids.

“I envision myself taking CBD oil and making products in our kitchen, with my granddaughters, and they’re walking along the beach and selling them to vacationers,” Allison said.

She’s excited about the prospect of creating new products like CBD gummies and body products. But the overarching goal of the trip is to get back to nature and make new connections with people. The plan right now is to stay for six months, but if after the six months are up Allison can’t imagine leaving then plans might just change. She said it’s a possibility that she could stay longer as long as she knew that her grandchildren, who she is very involved with, would be ok and have a grandmotherly figure in their lives to help out.
If you have instruments to donate Allison said they can be left at her daughter’s house at 218 N Corn St. in Ithaca.