by Lena Bledau, 16.06.2010
The February earthquake that hit Chile was so powerful – the fifth strongest ever recorded - that it inflicted untold sufferings to about 2 million people and devastated five of the twelve regions in the South American nation. The earthquake victims have been provided very basic wooden cabins called mediaguas (temporary housing provided by the Government and an NGO called, 'Un Techo para Chile'), that lack kitchen and toilet facilities. These cabins have just enough room for four beds and space for a wardrobe, so the earthquake affected people wait for more help from their Government and NGOs to fill these gaping needs. However, even this hardship and the onset of the icy cold, wet southern Chilean winter could not take away their positivity and friendliness. The people show tremendous patience, while the factories in Chile are producing at full capacity despite struggling with the massive demand for wood, zinc, fibre, cement and other essential materials. The CARE team met one of the families and this is their story.
On the distribution day of the shelter kit for 454 affected families in the region of Cumpeo, a tractor trailer arrives at the distribution site and picks up 36 shelter kits for the families in the sector of El Cerillo.
The truck has been organised by the Junta de Vecinos of El Cerillo (neighbourhood council) and would then drive 12 kms away from Cumpeo town to bring each household its shelter kit consisting of four fibre cement slabs, four timber poles, a roll of felt, nails, and a plastic cover. The communities in the countryside of southern Chile are comprised of poorly developed, off road towns. Each family lives in a simple house and works in the fruit picking sector during the harvest season, living off this income during the winter. The next supermarket is 32 kms away and can only be reached by the local bus, which departs three times a day.
The earthquake on the 27th of February that measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, not only destroyed all the adobe houses, but also negatively impacted the last part of the harvest season. Unable to find work and money during the winter, the Chilean families tried to salvage as much as they could from the ruins of their houses, which sometimes meant no more than a scrap of cloth, a bed or a mattress, and some personal belongings, such as photographs and family memories.
Christina described how the earthquake took the family by surprise while they slept. They were woken up by tremendous seismic shocks, Christina Vergara, 42, and her family initially did not leave their home, hoping that the shaking would stop. "Estabamos con un shock se va a parrar, va a parrar" (“we were in shock and thought, it will stop, it will stop”). After about a minute, realising that the house was starting to fall apart, Christina, her husband Ivan Gomez, 47, and their three kids aged 4, 12, and 23 left the house through the window of their bedroom. Dressed only in pyjamas, they spent the rest of the night outside checking their neighbours' and friends' houses. Luckily, due to experience of having lived in an earthquake prone area, most left their houses in the nick of time. Ten days after the earthquake, the little village was still without electricity, water or communication. The radio stations suffered as well, and mobile phones did not work for a long time. Christina and her family slept in a tent and got water from the neighbours, some information through friends, and used candles and fire for light and heat at night.
Christina still remembers the earthquake in 1985 and says that it was not at all as strong as the one on the 27th of February. In 1985, their house was not seriously damaged. They were not expecting another strong earthquake, and were not prepared when the most recent one hit. Adobe houses are cheap to build and give good shelter against the cold, humid winters of southern Chile, and for the most part have withstood earthquakes in the past. Ivan Gomez, Christina's husband, is a carpenter ensuring regular income to the family even during the winter. However, he is currently out of work because, with most of the houses in the region destroyed, there is nobody to sell furniture to. For now, people are spending their money on rebuilding their homes, not filling them.
Ivan hopes that once people are back in their houses or mediaguas, they will start buying furniture again. Although Ivan's workshop is adjacent to his destroyed house, the heavy machinery Ivan needs to practice his trade was not damaged. He believes that once the demand for furniture rises again, he will be ready to fill in the orders.
They are one of the many families that have already filled in the necessary papers for the government subsidy. This subsidy provides for a brick house to be built on the land of every family whose home has been rendered uninhabitable by the earthquake. According to Christina, the government provided house will be better than their old one because of the superior building material. Without the help of the government, they would not be able to build a new house, and would have to live in the mediagua for a longer period of time.
In the meantime the family is organising their life in the mediagua. These wooden houses are quite small, with just enough space for their four beds and fridge. They are currently using their outside open space as a kitchen.
However, the rain makes this difficult, so with the shelter kit from CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg, they will now extend the mediagua to have a roofed space in which to cook and eat. The shelter kit also includes some felt which the family will use to improve the roof of the mediagua. At the moment, the mediagua is insulated very poorly, the space underneath the roof is partially open and allows cold air and rain to enter. Despite all their hardship, the family is very positive and optimistic, confident that their living conditions will improve very soon and that people will start to buy furniture again.
Even though most in the region have lost almost everything and have to start from the very beginning, it has to be said that the people of the earthquake affected regions are generally very positive regarding their future. This is a nation that does not let itself get down and looks optimistically into the future. Fuerza Chile!
