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Published: January 22nd 2008
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Restoration Work
Restoration/rebuild work in one of the areas affected by the earthquake. Hi Folks,
Bit more of a leisurely day today, so more time for some blogging. In this one I´ll cover Saturday 19 January.
Today we were headed in the minibus from Kawai to Ica.
En route we stopped in various small towns in the Pisco region. If you remember back to my 2005 trip, Pisco is where they produce all the wine and Pisco Sour in Peru. You may also remember various blogs where the CCS gringos were sampling Pisco Sours (on a regular basis) in gringo plaza in Ayacucho!! You may also remember Vicki and I visiting a couple of wineries on our travels and sampling the wine and the pisco. They also made fantastic mango jam at one of the wineries.
Well, in August last year, Pisco and Ica (where we did the sandboarding) were the epicentre of the large earthquake that hit Peru. The Pisco that I saw this time around is very different to the one that I remember. Immediately once the earthquake hit, the Vine Trust sent out funds and managed to maintain (in conjunction with SU) seven soup kitchens to feed the children. They only closed in December of this year.
Little Boy & Temporary House
The yellow tents are temporary houses that have been provided by various aid organisations. They are still in use!! As a result of the eathquake, it is said that 100,000 people died and 300,000 lost their homes. Peruvians are not very good with statistics, however, and it is likely that in reality these numbers are much higher.
Unfortunately, the majority of houses in these areas were not well built and the majority collapsed. The government (Peruvian) promised $1,000 US per home to help restoration, but this has not been forthcoming, and the people affected are trying their best on their own with support from voluntary organisations such as SU and VT. As we drove through the decimated towns, we noticed some houses had a circle with a cross in it marked on them. This means that the property has been deemed unsafe and uninhabitable. Circles with a dot in the centre, mean that the property is ok. Have attached lots of photos for you to see what these people are facing.
We then headed to our hotel at Ica, where Anna and I have a leaky loo!! In the afternoon, we headed out to another shanty town in ICA. This time, we were catching up with the SU water truck which distributes free water to some
Christmas Decorations
Despite the earthquake damage, they still tried to celebrate Christmas in this small town of the poorer areas in Ica. The truck holds a total of 4 gallons of water. David and Anna and I got a ride on the back of the water truck, but unfortunately I don´t have any photos of that. David and Anna both got soaked, and I (fortunately) escaped that, but read on!!
Once we got to the shanty town, the folks came running with empty containers wanting them filled up. These were big plastic tubs, some of which had previously held petroleum etc. We filled these up and helped carry them back to the shanty houses, which was a real eye opener. It was also very noticeable that it was the women and children who predominantly came for the water. In most cases, the men were very noticeable by their absence!! It was hard work carrying these full containers back to folks houses, but nothing in comparison to the challenges that they face just living day by day.
I was especially touched by one youngish lady that we helped to get water. She was heavily pregnant (eight months I later discovered) and had one wee boy who was just over two. She came for water and
Damage to the Church
This was the first shot of damage to the tower - more to follow. wanted to help me carry it back for her. She appeared very moved when I told her ´no way´and continued to struggle with the full containers. Albert and Rachel also helped. It was almost as if she had never been shown any kindness in her life. She also appeared to be on her own and lived quite far away from the central area of the shanty town. She has been on my mind, and I hope that all will go well with the birth of her baby. It´s sad to think of the kind of life the wee one will have when it arrives, but I´m sure it will be loved. Her other wee fella was gorgeous - big dark eyes and dark hair. We had a great game of frisbee with the lid off of one of the containers. He had a big ugly, swollen mole on his cheek. She wasn´t sure whether it was a birth mark or perhaps a tropical ulcer. It had never been checked out. I hope it was a birth mark as the latter could kill him.
Giving out the water was hard work, but I got a lot out of it. Again,
Inside the Church
This is what was left!! it made me think. The folks who received the water were very grateful. How much do we appreciate water and how readily do we waste it at home?
Ica is one of the driest areas in Peru as it is in the desert. It rains here (on average) once every ten years, although that is now becoming more frequent as a result of global warming. The earthquake last year only served to worsen the sitaution in relation to lack of water.
At the end I ended up absolutely soaked and muddy!! It was good though, and in a way, very symbolic as water is key to the survival of these families - a bit like our faith for those who profess to have one!!
Anna found a wee baby - eight months old and v small for his age. Kate also made friends with a family whilst on the job. Again, photos attached.
After giving out the water, it was back to the hotel where some folks enjoyed a quick dip in the pool. I just opted for a shower as I was v mucky!! More contrasts???
AIn the evening, it was time for dinner
Another wall of the Church
You can only imagine what this must have looked like. and we headed out to a steak/grill place where I had grilled mushrooms and a big plate of chips. Wonder what the kids in the shanty town were eating??
After that, it was time for bed. The man appeared to fix our leaky loo at midnight which was fun!! I use the term loosely as ´fix´comprised mopping up!!
Anyway, that´s all for now.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Lesley x
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mum
non-member comment
well you never were happy unless you were in the middle of things! As always you make very interesting reading. So you are now a Peruvia water wummin eh! Knowing you - you enjoyed the experience - here we are having scooshie water gun fights etc with our wee ones and these people are so desperate for water. Roll call is as usual the whole of the West of Scotland and south east Wisconsin. Everybody here is well especially your poxy cats - still giving me a hard time but at least I dont have to go looking for Galway Boy - the weather is so dire he is usually home when I get here and Chuckie is still Chuckie - he had a tantrum the other night about his medicine so rather than have the two of us stressed out he didnt get any - but have told him no more of his s--t Im in charge until Saturday at least. Mind you I did think Galway boy had spate out his pill so there I am in a very undignified position trying to get him to take the pill again onlyto discover Im trying to get him to swallow a small piece of white cat litter - you dont have to worry he didnt swallow it - he has more brains than me (dont dare make a comment on that one ). Weather still on the hellish side but would you believe you have wee snowdrops blooming in your garden. Still remembering to feed the wee birds and they seem so be okay. Not much more happening - have the meeting at the Church on 23rd so all the arrangements are made for that but would you beleive I have to be down there for 9.30 am and that is in the morning and on Thursday I have the Pilates class starting at the same time and then my line dancing in the afternoon - Friday I am taking Charlotte for a perm and a hair cut and I think we are having lunch with Sandra that I get home to flick the duster over your place. Going to the fiba with Rose on Wednesday and then depending on when your plane arrives on Saturday Rose might get my ticket for Ibrox. Love and miss you every day. See you on Saturday. Take care and keep taking the malaria tablets and remember the rules about paddlingand swimming in the Amazon. All our love Mum, sparky, albertz and your poxy boys chuckie and galway xxxxx