Some Real News: The Situation

So as most of you know, Chile was rocked by an earthquake a while back and while Arica itself was not too affected, there was a lot of chaos and fear in the southern half of the nation. There are still huge numbers of displaced, missing, and injured persons, and as late as yesterday many cities in the south haven’t had access to running water or electricity. I was actually in Santiago and some of the Southern cities a week before the quake. When the news shows photos of the airport terminal I flew into and some of the towns I visited destroyed, it feels like a guided tour of a nightmare that's unfortunately come true. I really can't imagine how hard it is for people like my house mother here who have family in these cities (luckily her family was alright considering the circumstances), and especially for the people who have been directly harmed by the quake.

(Even though Arica is several hundred miles away from the epicenter, the people here are so involved with the aid efforts. You cannot walk down the street without seeing “Chile Ayuda a Chile” (Chile help Chile) and “Fuerza Chile” (Strength Chile) written on a car or poster.A telethon thrown by top Chilean celebrities the weekend after the quake raised 3X its goal within a 48 hour period.)

All that being said, Chile is doing an amazing job fixing the damage and supporting the people affected not only by the initial quake, but also a series of serious after shock (ranging from 7.2-6.6). If you feel in the mood for giving, a local charity that I would reccomend before the American Red Cross is Hogar de Cristo. (http://www.hogardecristo.cl/index.php/colabora-con-nosotros/aid-to-earthquake-victims/) It's a Jesuit charity that does just about everything (education, housing, food, health care etc.) for Chile’s poor and will be here long after the Red Cross workers have left to help with the next disaster. I agree 100% with the words of a woman I met shortly after the first quake in the Sunday street market. “If this had happened in nearly any other country in Latin America it would have been another Haiti. But Chileans are strong and we are organized. We love each other and our country. We will conquer this.”

A local craft market whose vendors have promised a portion of their sales to the victims of the earthquake. (This is truly a sacrifice on their part because the profit they make from what they sell is already so small, and most of them as it is are already struggling to make ends meet.)

A few of my friends and I volunteering at Hogar de Cristo (House of Christ). The tarps behind us are old company advertisements that were picked up from local businesses. We’re unloading them so that they can be sent to Southern Chile to be used as tents by the people whose homes have been destroyed.