When the Lights Go Out, Who Do You Turn To?

At this year's Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny climbed atop a damaged utility pole and performed "El Apagón" — The Blackout. It wasn't just a concert moment. It was a political statement about Puerto Rico's chronic energy crisis, the post-Hurricane Maria struggles that never fully resolved, and a community that has had to build resilience not because it chose to, but because it had to.

It stuck with me. Because I've seen versions of that story play out across the Caribbean and Central America — not as tragedy, but as culture.

The emergency kit is ONE part of a network of care.

🇸🇻 A few years back, someone texted me from the family farm in rural El Salvador. The water had been shut off. "How do I purify rainwater?" Because I collect info on accessible preparedness, I had a resource that fit what they had — and they passed it along to those around them. Preparedness means having knowledge and knowing how to share it.

🇯🇲 In Jamaica during a blackout, what struck me wasn't the darkness. It was how seamlessly everyone shifted — grid to generator, electric to gas, plug-in to battery. No panic. Just adaptation. Preparedness means being able to shift methods so what matters most still happens.

🇨🇴 In Providencia (a tiny island Colombian island off the coast of Nicaragua), the weekly grocery boat arrived half-stocked. Folks were frustrated — but nobody panicked. People shared from their pantries. Fishermen caught a little extra. People coming in from the mainland that week packed groceries to sell and share. Preparedness means knowing what you have — skills, resources, or privilege of travel — and how to use it to support the community.

None of this was resolved by a 72-hour kit.

It was resolved by people who knew their context, knew each other, and had built informal systems of care over time. The kind of systems Bad Bunny was singing about from that utility pole.

In so-called Vancouver, I rarely experience shortages. But where I've witnessed the most care? Travelling. In places where care is the backbone of culture — not just limited to a crisis response.

What would it look like to build a culture of care where you live?

It starts small: mapping what exists around you, knowing your neighbours, practicing care before a crisis hits.

That's exactly what we explore in Beyond the 72hr Emergency Kit — an online workshop this Thursday, February 26, 6–7:30pm PST. Come as you are. No prior training needed.

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Daniela GR is a Community Resilience Educator and Leadership Coach with over 20 years of frontline crisis experience. She supports organizations and leaders in building the agility, relationships, and collective capacity to respond to social and climate crises — without burning out — while building just and sustainable futures.

www.danielagrconsulting.ca