In Chile, hard work and messages of hope

Hector Reyes —a staff member for Educacion Popular en Salud (EPES), Mercy Corps' local partner here in Chile — and I returned from the earthquake-shattered city of Concepción late last night. It took us almost 12 hours to make the six-hour trip because of the earthquake damage to roads and bridges. The destruction in Concepción and surrounding towns is devastating. The port city of Talcahuano where we have worked is destroyed beyond belief.

Soldiers stand watch over a devastated area of the Chilean port city Talcahuano. A swamped fishing boat lies in the street. Photo: Educacion Popular en Salud (EPES)

Concepción felt like a war zone. When we arrived last Thursday — five days after the earthquake struck — an 18-hour curfew was in place and the military was posted throughout the city. We had to have a government-issued safe conduct pass to drive into the city to get to EPES and move about during curfew. At 7 p.m., Concepción was like a ghost town studded with military checkpoints.

We arrived at the EPES Concepción Center to see the church next door with gaping holes and major damage. But our EPES Center, built in 2006, is standing relatively unscathed. Dr. Lautauro Lopez, the EPES director in Concepción and the only local staff member who was able to reach the center, was there to meet us. We hugged and hugged each other. He was so happy and relieved we were there and we were equally relieved to finally see him. We still hadn’t made personal contact with our other three local staff members.

Since the earthquake, Dr. Lopez has worked without rest — providing emergency medical care and organizing the water distribution for the center's immediate neighbors, who, like the rest of Concepción, were without electricity and water.

More than 300 families (about 1,200 people) are getting water every day from a pump that's connected to a water main underneath EPES's center in Concepción. We had bought an emergency generator from Santiago, which we brought with us in our truck hastily borrowed from a friend. Fortunately, shortly after we got to the EPES center, electricity was restored and we were able to run the pump with electricity from our building. But we continued to experience power outages, so our generator allowed us to keep working — Hector, as usual, had thought of every imaginable problem and brought extension cords and tools.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lopez had helped organize the neighborhood committee to distribute the water. Fear, uncertainty and desperation made the first days very tense but things are running smoothly now. People start lining up at 6 a.m. outside the EPES center and the neighborhood committee gets there at 9 a.m. to start the distribution process. One person gives out numbers, while another coordinates the people receiving water and three others pump the water and put it in the containers that people bring with them. Water distribution continues all day.

Next to the makeshift water distribution point in the EPES center's yard, children are playing on the playground and gazebo built two years ago by volunteers from long-term EPES supporters Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (Clifton Park, NY), Trinity Lutheran Church (Owatonna, MN) and students from Swarthmore College. The children’s laughter helps a very tense situation feel more normal.

The health promoters, our staff and their families are unhurt — but the trauma is enormous. As soon as we arrived, we started visiting the health teams, distributing educational fliers on water management and disease prevention, as well as providing emergency health kits. When they saw Dr. Lopez, many wept then hugged him and said, "We knew EPES would come, we knew EPES would come."

The port in Talcahuano is swamped with ruined cargo. The water is polluted with debris and sulfuric acid from the breakdown of wood and food. Local water supplies are not running, and those that do run are not drinkable. Photo: Educacion Popular en Salud (EPES)

The feeling of isolation and fear has been so great. After the earthquake, looting erupted in these neighborhoods, and people started protecting their streets with barricades and volunteer night patrols. Aftershocks of up to 6.8 magnitude caused waves of panic, as did false alarms of another tsunami.

There is still no running water in the communities EPES works in, the septic system is collapsing, public transportation is scarce and aid is only beginning to arrive. But there is also a strong sense of solidarity, of neighbors helping neighbors, and a spirit of coming together — every other car on our way back yesterday had messages of hope painted on the windows. Fuerza Chile! Vamos Chile!

Gracias for all your support!