Report on Earthquake Reconstruction Project, Five Months Later


(photos courtesy of Manuel Ortiz, earthquake project manager for SBP)

For those of you who remember Peru Mission's earthquake relief fund, following the earthquake which struck Southern Peru on August 15, there is progress to report. After our initial $1,000 aid run to Chincha (see my entry of August 28), we contacted various organizations within Peru whom we considered trustworthy to see what types of long-term reconstruction projects we could partner on. (There have unfortunately been many news reports of looting or hoarding donations, or of aid never reaching the affected regions, which I can only imagine are typical of disasters in less-developed countries with largely informal economies.)

We decided to join a coalition headed by the United Bible Society in Peru (Sociedad Biblica Peruana, or SBP for short), which hired a professional constructor within the church named Manuel Ortiz to scope out and complete an aid project. They decided to work in Huancavelica, a rural part of the mountains inland from the epicenter in Ica, which was much more difficult to access than the coastal cities of Chincha and Pisco and had consequently received much less attention and aid.

Peru Mission has raised just over $25,000 to date in our earthquake relief fund, and so far has spent about half that money on the project described in Manuel's report below, focusing on roofing material, blankets and Bibles. In the next few months we will spend the other half with SBP on expanding this project to other villages and/or follow-up trips to these 758 families.

Why roofing material? As far as I can tell, despite lavish promises from the government to provide everyone with a new home, even the cheapest pre-fabricated housing materials are prohibitively expensive to deliver to thousands of poor families. (How many Katrina victims are still without their own home?) So many of the poor have made the only practical choice within their means: rebuilding their own houses out of the same adobe that collapsed the first time around. With the rainy season rapidly approaching in the mountains, there's really no other option. The sheet-metal roofing which they are now receiving is a cost-effective way to make a marked improvement over their previous homes. Blankets and Bibles have also been distributed, and aid given to the local churches so that they can provide much-needed emotional and spiritual resources to the communities as well.

Our mission's administrator Pastor Jaime Avellaneda and I have remained in close touch with SBP, partly because we've been in Lima the most often. I've met with Manuel Ortiz in Lima at SBP's offices, got copies of his photos (see above), and personally seen the registries where each family has signed (or left a fingerprint) to show the receipt of their roofing materials and blankets. I've even been invited to join several of these mountain trips, which I've declined so far due to my health not being 100%. All in all I've been very impressed with their management of the project, and have learned that when it comes to foreign aid in a high-corruption context, it helps to have contacts through the local church or some other trustworthy body, the ability to follow-up, and meticulous documentation of everything that's taken place.

Below are translated portions of Manuel's latest report, sent on Dec. 28.

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REPORT ON THE 8TH & 9TH TRIPS TO THE EMERGENCY ZONE OF ICA
SAN JOSE DE LOS MOLINOS
Dec. 28, 2007

Summary of families assisted:

• Tantara (Castrovirreyna, Huancavelica) = 222 Families; 27 Elderly or Disabled
• Chupamarca (Castrovirreyna, Huancavelica) = 165 Families; 28 Elderly or Disabled
• Ticrapo (Castrovirreyna, Huancavelica) = 265 Families; 53 Elderly or Disabled
• San José de los Molinos (ICA) = 171 Families, 26 Elderly or Disabled

In total we’ve assisted 758 Families and 119 elderly or disabled. We’ve exceeded our goal, thanks to our God!

Materials Delivered:

• Bibles (“Dios Habla Hoy”) = 760
• Devotionals (“Dios es nuestro Refugio y Fortaleza”) = 2,850
• Sheet metal roofing = 8,712 units (3 x 0.80 square meters each)
• Nails for metal roofing (2.5") = 501 Kgs.
• Heavyweight blankets, double bed size = 2,140

General objective:

It is important to note what has transpired during the two months since our first trip. During this time we have completed nine journeys total. The first three were for delivering humanitarian aid (food, blankets), after which the Peruvian Bible Society and the John Calvin Presbytery of Lima decided upon the project objective: to assist 500 families, delivering to each one 30 square meters of sheet metal roofing for their roofs, plus blankets, Bibles and devotionals.

The main objective has now been completed. We express our gratitude to our God for accompanying us in all of these journeys and for giving us the opportunity to serve and bring words of comfort and support to the families affected by the earthquake, in the following areas of Huancavelica (a rural mountainous region in southern Peru) and Ica: Tantará, Chupamarca and Ticrapo; and San José de los Molinos.

Report on the [Latest] Trip to los Molinos:

• Departure: Saturday Dec. 22, 2007, 05:00 pm.
• Return: Sunday Dec. 23, 2007, 11.00 pm
• Distance covered: 795 Kms

Trip objective:

• To deliver 13 pieces of sheet metal to each family affected by the earthquake, who are registered with the towns of Casa Blanca and Huamaní
• To deliver thick blankets for the cold to each family affected by the earthquake, according to the number of children registered in the towns of Casa Blanca and Huamaní
• To deliver Bibles and devotionals to each person affected by the earthquake, as well as schoolteachers and local authorities in the towns of Casa Blanca and Huamaní
• To make contact with the villages of the district which have not yet received aid, and to verify if other people affected by the earthquake have not been helped with their most urgent needs.

Narrative:

As mentioned in the above paragraphs, after a trip to verify and confirm the situation in the towns of San José de los Molinos, we coordinated with the mayor to deliver sheet metal, blankets, Bibles and devotionals to the towns of Casa Blanca and Huamaní.

The team left for Ica on Saturday Dec. 22 and stopped overnight before making the climb to Los Molinos early on Sunday Dec. 23, so that as arranged with the authorities, the affected families would be waiting at 10am. Before arriving in Casa Blanca and Huamaní, we had a meeting with Mayor Felix Escobar and the Deputy Mayor and his advisors, to draft a statement of our presence.

Our first point of delivery of the sheet metal, blankets, Bibles & devotionals was in Casa Blanca, where all of the houses were destroyed by the earthquake. We delivered items to 91 families; we also delivered 30 pieces of sheet metal and 10 Bibles to the local Assemblies of God church.

The following destination was Huamani, another town where the adobe houses had collapsed. We delivered items to 106 affected families. In this town we could not aid the local Catholic church [with roofing] because part of its structure had been knocked down.

Conclusions:

Assignment completed. As you can see in this report, we’ve surpassed our objective of assisting 500 affected families, and we give thanks to our Creator for having been so generous as to assist more than 758 families, and for having watched over our travels to different parts of the Andes over difficult or dangerous roads.

We also give thanks to our God and Father for providing people, directly or indirectly, who’ve collaborated in this project with their donations, time, and prayers.

Glory be to our God!

Faithfully Yours,

Juan Manuel Ortiz Guzmán
PROYECTO DE EMERGENCIA
Sociedad Biblica Peruana, A.C.