A letter from Jacob Goad in Peru
September 14, 2007
An inside story on relief work in Peru
When community groups were scrambling to help victims of the 8.0 earthquake on the Peruvian coast, I was involved with many people who were trying to make relief plans. I heard conversations quickly evolve from search and rescue, medical supplies, food and water, and blankets to counseling, access, safe housing, water sources, livelihood, and sewage solutions.
During a disaster you learn fast. It seems that life kicks the turbo switch and you hang on with all of you’ve got. What you see makes you a different person, and what you do is never enough.
In Peru, rural towns were mostly abandoned after the earthquake. When ACT arrived (Action by Churches Together, the direct relief office of the World Council of Churches) in San Benito, Chincha, my colleagues were surprised to find a little boy who didn’t own a pair of shoes. He walked around in the cold rubble of the pueblo and stretched out his hand to me and said, “Do you want to look for fruit with me?”
In addition to making poverty and inequality worse, the earthquake opened the public eye to populations that were already vulnerable before the earthquake hit. A former sociology professor of mine at the University of Kansas, Tanya Golash-Boza, who has been studying Afro-Peruvian populations, says this about rural-urban distinctions in Peru: These distinctions are racialized in Peru, to the extent that indigenous people who migrate to cities are a little further up the racial hierarchy than those who stay in the rural areas.
“It is true that most of the media outlets did not mention that Afro-Peruvians were disproportionately victims of this earthquake, and the legacy of slavery and structural racism worsened the plight of the victims of the earthquake. At the same time, the history of colonialism and forced indigenous labor in Peru has exacerbated indigenous poverty in Peru.”
Temporary housing
In the days following the earthquake many organizations, including ACT, began giving workshops on temporary housing. Most temporary shelters use a cubic wood frame, which can be covered with a variety of materials such as thatch or plastic. Plastic is quite hot in the summer and offers no ventilation. ACT has built 140 thatch houses so far.
Houses
As permanent construction begins, people are thinking about prevention. Many families live in adobe houses throughout South America. Adobe brick structures are not as stable as concrete and mortar. But stronger materials cost more.
As many rural people think about rebuilding, they are saying, “What do I build with? I don’t want adobe anymore, but that’s all I can afford.” ACT is promoting wooden structures in Chincha because wood is earthquake resistant, and the temperatures are mild.
The Peruvian government plans to allocate just under 2,000 dollars to each household for rebuilding.
The government requires land and property deeds to help people obtain help, but many squatters, the most vulnerable and poor, do not have title to the property on which they live. Some land was passed down or simply occupied and there are no legal documents to certify who the owner is. ACT Peru is working in several communities to help families with these legal matters and reconstruction.
Bathrooms, waste, and water sources
One of the key issues after a natural disaster is to make sure that people have a sanitary place to use the restroom.
ACT Peru is focusing on making sure that infections related to fecal matter don’t cause an outbreak of epidemics. The solution is composting toilets, which do not require water or sewer systems. These toilets are sustainable in areas with water shortages, like San Benito.
In the desert of Peru, water comes from the Andes Mountains run-off, which comes from glaciers. The effects of global warming are causing the glaciers to melt away at a high rate in Peru and Bolivia. People in the low desert regions who grow grapes rely on that water for irrigation. This demand from the coast has created a water deficiency for people living in the Andes. As a result, there is an interregional conflict between the coastal and mountain regions of Peru.
ACT Peru wants to work sustainably to provide water for the people in need, but doesn’t want to further interregional conflict. In that sense, ACT is working in both regions (mountain and coastal) to equip people to rebuild their communities.
Uruguayan psychologist contributes
ACT brought a Uruguayan psychologist who traveled from Sweden to Peru to give specialized training sessions to Peruvian psychologists and social workers in the disaster areas. The Uruguayan psychologist had spent ample time in Pakistan training community groups after the earthquake in 2005.
ACT is planning to send a team of psychologists and pastoral care specialists to work in San Benito, Chincha, Ica, Pisco, and Huancavelica.
Jacob Goad
