Special Group Program: Earthquake Relief in Chile
July 4th 2010 - The first group has arrived!
A note from our office in Chile about the first group formed to participate in the Earthquake Relief Program:
We are extremely happy with the volunteers' willingness and flexibility for this first program that started onJuly 4th. After completing a week of cultural immersion, planning and some practical campaigns in Santiago, they started their journey to Pichidegua loaded with fresh fruits, potatoes and some other elements that they collected in local markets in Santiago. Local authorities and the community were expecting their arrival. Pablo our EIL Chile program coodinator has been with them and supoported the volunteers all the time. Host families in Santiago were also very enthusiastic about hosting the volunteers and helped them through the first week to get used to local life.... This week volunteers start the hard work hand by hand with local authorities and with the help of other people who have joined us in this effort to rebuild trust, the sense of identity and territory among locals. We are attaching a group picture taken before their departure for Pichidegua.
Participants for this group program will come from many countries to participate in rebuilding a cultural center, homes, a health facility, and the spirits of the people in Pichidegua. Start dates are July 4 and August 8, 2010. Read about the projects below and contact your local VIP office for program details.
After the massive 8,8º earthquake that devastated many places in Chile’s South Central regions, there have been a number of solidarity efforts to help the most affected people and places. As a response to the damage caused by the catastrophe, thousands of young people and individuals joined volunteer groups to organize and distribute the help to cope with the most immediate needs. However, the initial enthusiasm is decreasing as time passes. Most of the volunteers have gone back to their studies and activities having limited time to devote to sustained efforts to bring things back to normal (e.g. building 20.000 emergency houses).
The material and psychological impact for all those who were affected by the earthquake demands a lot of work in the long run. Special earthquake relief Government programs, private institutions and a network of volunteers and individuals are joining efforts to reconstruct Chile in solidarity.
EIL - the VIP office in Chile - has identified one of the most affected zones in Chile’s VI Region to develop a long term solidarity volunteer program to help diminish the material and psychological impact on those who have lost their homes, lifetime efforts, community infrastructure and hopes.
We would like to focus all our efforts on a location named PICHIDEGUA contributing with skilled as well as unskilled volunteers to meet the demands of the community in areas such as home and community construction, health assistance, and community projects. A continuous system and flow of individual or group volunteers will produce changes and the necessary results that the community seeks to regain confidence and recuperate their territorial identity, sense of community and pride.
PICHIDEGUA FACTS:
Name; Pichidegua commune, Pichidegua town
Foundation: 1593, officially recognized in 1891.
Location: Chile VI Region, Province of Cachapoal.
Number of inhabitants : 18.777 (represents 2,27% of total inhabitants from the region)
Surface: 320km2
People: 69,59% rural / 30,41 % urban
Earthquake impact in Pichidegua
Destroyed houses: 2.000
Damaged people: 5.000
Some of the goals and tasks we would like to achieve with the help and support of EIL members and the commitment of Pichidegua authorities are:
Rebuild the ‘Casa de la Música’ (house of music) a community building used to learn and practice music for children and youth.
Support home building and reconstruction of cultural center
Improve health facilities in the local rural clinic and assist with health related volunteers.
Improve building conditions at the open house for the Elders
Interact with locals and youth
Skilled Volunteers might include last year college students and/or certified Architects, Civil constructors. Civil Engineers, Doctors, Nurses.
Unskilled, open, flexible volunteers from 17 years old up to 60 are also welcome.
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