Press Releases

Urgent Request for Aid for Earthquake Victims in Peru

Posted on: Thursday, August 16, 2007

Keywords: Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, Peru, Latin America and Caribbean, Emergency Relief

"I opened the door to my house to rescue my children, and the walls caved in, crushing all of them."

At 6:40 pm local time yesterday, an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale hit Peru. Among the towns nearest the epicenter are Chincha Alta and Cañete, where MADRE’s partner LUNDU works with Afro-Peruvian young people, women and families who were struggling to meet their basic needs even before last night’s earthquake. Those families are now homeless, hungry, and without protection from the weather.

When we spoke with Mónica Carrillo, LUNDU’s Director, this morning she asked for immediate help. She told us that some families suffered the horrors of watching everything crumble around them. As parents opened the door of their house to rescue their children, the walls collapsed. This is a serious emergency.

In some areas, 80 percent of all housing has been destroyed. People are sleeping on the streets, wounded are lying on hospital floors, power is out in most of the area and highways are cracked and blocked. At least 400 are dead and more than 1,300 wounded, and these figures will certainly rise.

Schools, churches, and other places that would normally function as emergency centers have been severely damaged and people are waiting to be transported to safety. Chincha Alta and surrounding communities are having aftershocks, which are expected to continue.

MADRE is responding immediately to LUNDU’s needs. Please give as generously as you can right now to help LUNDU purchase the following urgently needed items:

Clothing
Blankets
Food
Clean water and water purification tablets
Gasoline
Medicines (broad spectrum antibiotics, anti-fungals, anti-diarrheals)
Prefabricated housing

Please help-send whatever amount you can.

We will update this page as the full dimensions of the earthquake’s impact become clear and as we receive more information from LUNDU. Thank you for standing with MADRE and our partners in this time of crisis.

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