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Helping Peru Rebuild, One Year Later
By Christy Feig and Winnie Romeril, International Communications
Thursday, August 14, 2008 — It was a year ago August 15, when the earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Peru. Within minutes, hundreds died and nearly 700,000 people, like 64-year-old Flora Emilia Barrutia de Tasaco became homeless.
Flora Emilia Barrutia de Tasayco, stands with her grandson next to their temporary house donated by the American Red Cross. She lives here with her two granddaughters.
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The Peruvian Red Cross reached out to its sister societies for help and the American Red Cross responded immediately.
"Immediately we flew in relief supplies, Red Cross disaster experts and the cash needed to help our sister society the Peruvian Red Cross," said Eric Baranick, head of the American Red Cross delegation in Peru. "But the outpouring of kindness and generosity from donors has allowed us to stay, helping those who lost their homes and communities recover beyond the first critical months."
In the coastal communities where Flora lives in Chincha Province, nearly 60% of the population was affected by the disaster. The American Red Cross partnered with the Peruvian Red Cross to help deliver transitional houses. In the past year, the American Red Cross gave materials and trained nearly 2,000 families to build temporary wooden houses until their new permanent homes could be built. The small wooden houses provide dignity, privacy and warmth and are sturdy and flexible enough to withstand high winds and recurrent tremors.
Today, Flora lives with her two granddaughters in the shelter donated by the American Red Cross. In her neighborhood of Sector Union in Pueblo Nuevo 100 of the most vulnerable families- half of the population- received such shelters. Three of Flora's children plus each of their families live behind this structure in makeshift lean-to's of thatch panels and plastic sheeting. When it rains, all four families cram into Flora’s house to stay warm and dry in the damp winter weather.
Santos Felipa, a 32 year-old fisherman, is starting to rebuild his permanent home, which was destroyed in the earthquake. Santos and his family lived under plastic sheeting until they received a transitional house from the American Red Cross.
"The house from the Red Cross is the best thing I have received until now," he says. "My children were sick before when all we had for shelter were poles and plastic sheeting. Now we are all healthy in this good house."
Boards, hammers and nails cannot fix all the damage from the earthquake; for some, the effect of seeing their home and community destroyed runs much deeper. To help heal the psychological impact, the American Red Cross supports community activities like singing, dancing and arts and crafts.
"These activities help restore important community and social networks that are often stressed during a disaster," says Erika Velasquez, the local Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator from the Peruvian Red Cross. "We even notice the impact among our volunteers. Now we recognize our stress and lift each other’s spirits using techniques we learned from the American Red Cross workers. It really helps!"
Six months after the earthquake, one mother brought her son to an American Red Cross counselor, because her son was nervous and afraid, having problems in school and no longer wanted to talk. After working with the American Red Cross Psychosocial program the boy slowly opened up.
"My house fell down," he said, and he continued to describe how his house trembled, how a wall tumbled towards him and how he had to run to protect himself. "I ran to see if my mom and little brother were alive."
Because of the psychosocial work of the American Red Cross the boy and his family will get the support they need to rebuild their lives.
These are just some of the projects underway in this region. The American Red Cross is still working in more than 30 communities in the earthquake-affected region, which is the size of New Jersey. The organization plans to stay until at least next summer, working to strengthen the Peruvian Red Cross and helping the communities better prepare for future disasters.
As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the American Red Cross alleviates the suffering of victims of war, disaster and other international crises, and works with other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to improve chronic, life-threatening conditions in developing nations. We reconnect families separated by emergencies and educate the American public about international humanitarian law. This assistance is made possible through the generosity of the American public.
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