ES_Sister_City

Earthquake Update # 4

Dear Sister City members and friends,

Thank you for all the great work you have been doing on the part of the Salvadoran people following last weekend?s horrific earthquake. We have been doing our best to communicate your thoughts, concern and prayers for the victims to the members of the CRIPDES communities affected as well as to the victims of non-CRIPDES communities.

As of Wednesday, the official death toll had risen to 681. Official sources have gone been silent on the question of the disappeared making it difficult to draw conclusions. The current official figure of 45,857 refugees has been challenged by the much higher unofficial numbers arriving from the rural areas. The number of seismic events registered following the initial quake now totals 1,356.

Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit the communities of Guajoyo and Miramar in central San Vicente. Carmen Elena, the San Vicente Sistering rep, had already been to Las Anonas and San Bartolo and brought us reports from there. In Las Anonas 38 homes were left inhabitable, 13 lost roofs and 5 lost kitchens. In San Bartolo there are 3 homes that are now inhabitable and 1 that was completely destroyed. 7 more suffered fractures, 7 lost kitchens and 6 lost roofs.

The island of Montecristo, which lay closest to the epicenter of the quake, lost just 1 home, the large stick house at the entrance to the village that belonged to the mother of Berta, the sistering rep.

In Guajoyo we saw a number of houses that were roofless and stopped at the home of don Chepe Anaya, Guajoyo?s president. His large adobe house suffered extensive damage. They lost the roof, the walls have huge cracks and a large crack in the earth runs through the middle of one room. His wife, Maria del Transito Martinez was cooking lunch when the earthquake hit. She rushed outside and the lunch ended up on the dirt floor. Currently the family, like thousands of others are sleeping outside and cooking on the ground. Their clock is affixed to the eucalyptus tree. One miracle for Guajoyo, Miramar and Granzazo is that their recently completed water system was not damaged. Overall in Guajoyo Don Chepe reports that 36 homes are inhabitable with 6 more of the new cement brick houses questionable due to owner?s concerns over the cracks that appeared between the walls and the floors as a result of the quake. Moreover, don Chepe explained that many of the latrines in the village were damaged raising concerns over future health problems.

Guajoyo?s corn grinder had been in disrepair before the earthquake but was left further damaged after Saturday. However, the church and the school came through with no major damage.

Thus far the only aid that has reached Guajoyo is two rolls of plastic and a jug of water per family brought by the Tecoluca mayor?s office.

Across the country the earthquake of Saturday has highlighted an even deeper tragedy than that of hundreds buried alive and thousands of homes lost. The grim reality for thousands of victims is that most lacked dignified housing prior to the disaster. This forces solidarity activists, aid workers and local and national officials to grapple with the difficult question of how to help. Should victims be helped to replace only what they had or should those without access to sanitary facilities, clean water, electricity and a solid home be supported in resolving those basic needs? CRIPDES recognizes that in times of emergency it is important to meet as many immediate needs as possible, but without creating further dependency. With this understanding CRIPDES understands that no project, emergency or otherwise, is complete without a strong emphasis on community organization and empowerment. If you haven?t received any of the preceding updates, please let us know. Please take time to look at this morning?s update on the situation and project proposal.

In solidarity,

Erlinda Conrad and Cristina Damon

U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities