Extract from a letter written by Tatiana Benarides, National Director of World Vision Chile
- At Maule province, bridges suffered structural damage and governmental authorities were unable to reach the quake’s most devasted areas to determine the actual scope of the tragedy.
- Tsunami waves struck several coastal areas of Bio Bio and Maule. Hundreds of people living in the coast fled to the nearby hills. Unfortunately, they completely lost their homes and belongings.
- Maule and Bio Bio have no basic services such as electricity, portable water, telephone network and Internet.
- Chile’s main highway suffered severe damage in several parts.
- Hospitals from the big cities of Parral and Talca suffered important structural damage.
- Street riots and supermarket-looting are evident given the desperation of the people to get some food and safe drinking water.
- Some fires have started, such as in the School of Chemistry at the University of Concepción.
- Damaged roads and poor airplane access have greatly limited the support of the central government and NGOs such as World Vision. These have intensified social turmoil exacerbated by people´s post traumatic stress due to the constant daily aftershocks.
- Many families do not want to go back to their homes and prefer to stay in streets and public parks.
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8 March 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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“Chile we are still part of the country, Lota too. We will rise again together. We will build a future together with strength and optimism. Together Chile.” |
I am just back from the Region of the Bio Bio, in the South of Chile. Specifically from the city of Lota which fluctuates between chaos and hope. Eighty percent of all its buildings are on the ground. What is left may fall with any of the frequent aftershocks, some as strong as 7 Richter degrees.
Schools cannot reopen because they have become dangerous places, there is no water – the communal water cup is totally destroyed, there is no electricity either, and during the dark curfew hours the military roam the streets protecting the population of looters.
We have just finished checking on our sponsored children. They do not understand what is going on. They cannot sleep and the younger ones cry all the time. Ten years old Matias has nightmares in which he sees the earth opening and himself and his parents being swallowed by the dark abyss. Those who are lucky live in tents, any tent, even the light summer ones.
Yet, there is hope. Six hours after the quake, the community of Lota had organised itself, set up a soup kitchen to cook and share whatever little food they were able to rescue from the ruins. In a sector where World Vision has been present for many years, Señora Maria, whose house has been completely destroyed, told me in tears that every evening the neighbours get together for prayers.
World Vision Chile has a priority as well: Chile’s boys and girls. They need schooling, and schools to return to their routines. They need good housing for the harsh climate of the south of Chile. They need and deserve to forget the sight of rats coming out of the rubble, the dead dogs swelling on the ground, the smell of dead bodies. The brave people of Chile, and specially their children, deserve and need to live in a country with a perfect social and environmental balance and harmony.
Houses and schools are easy to rebuild. But, who is going to rebuild the heart of a Child? With this in mind, we have set up the first Child Friendly Space (CFS) in Dichato, one of the towns most severely hit by both earthquake and tsunami.
This is just the beginning. We wish to see all our sponsored children living in weather-proof houses, we wish to see them sitting in safe schools.
We need your prayers and your help,
Tatiana Benarides
World Vision Chile National Director
I WISH TO HELP!
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