 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
September 3 , 2007 • VOL. 45, NO. 15 • Oakland, CA
CRS seeks $11
million to help
victims of earthquake in Peru
 |
Cousins Rosalvina Guzman and Cecilia Guzman embrace amid the rubble of their homes in the village of Los Aquijes, outside Ica, Peru, Aug. 24. More than 85,000 people were left homeless by a powerful earthquake in the area, Aug. 15. CNS PHOTO/WALTER HUPIU |
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in coordination with its Caritas partners
throughout the world, has launched an $11 million appeal to help victims
of the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru.
CRS committed an initial $100,000 immediately after the quake and is seeking
an additional $1.4 million to support Caritas Peru’s response
and reconstruction efforts. That appeal is part of a larger Caritas Confederation
effort to raise $11 million for immediate relief and long-term recovery,
which would ultimately help some 50,000 people.
The powerful 8.0-magnitude temblor toppled homes, churches and buildings
and was felt from the earthquake’s epicenter in the Department of
Ica to the capital city Lima, over 100 miles away. More than 85,000 people
are now homeless and 35,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. It is
the worst earthquake to hit the country in 30 years.
CRS has already provided food, water, shelter, blankets, and cooking and
hygiene kits to some 10,000 people in Ica.
“The people most affected by the earthquake are some of the poorest
to begin with,” said Aaron Skrocki, CRS emergency coordinator in
South America. “The earthquake has taken what was already a difficult
situation and made it worse.”
Traveling through Chincha, Ica, and Pisco, the three cities nearest the
quake’s epicenter, Skrocki and a CRS - Caritas assessment
team found widespread destruction in the poorer rural areas where homes
are made of adobe.
Initial relief efforts were hampered due to the condition of the
roads. In addition, already fragile potable water and irrigation
systems were destroyed by the tremor. Restoring the systems over the next
several months will be critical in allowing people to return to farming
the land and watering their livestock.
Caritas has set up relief operations in Pisco, Cañete, Ica and
Chinca, where hundreds of volunteers are helping with aid distributions
and other activities.
Donations can be sent to: Peru Earthquake Fund, Catholic Relief Services,
P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, Maryland 21203-7090. Or donate online: www.crs.org;
donate via phone: 1-877-HELP-CRS.
