|
We have provided water and sanitation, shelter and protection to over 30,000 people including 17,500 children since a huge earthquake struck close to the Chilean city of Concepcion in late February 2010. As winter sets in Save the Children is working with the local authorities and our partners to reach more families and children.  Catalina, 13, holds her sister Antonia, two, while her uncles and cousins remove the debris outside her destroyed home in Santiago, Chile. No local authority has approached them with help yet, and her father can't help either because he had to go to work. Catalina's home was built 120 years ago and she'd been living there for ten years. Her father, Damian, works in a chemical plant and her mother is a domestic worker.
Catalina says:
"My mother woke me up when the earthquake started. She took me and my brother to the living room. A second later, the wardrobe fell over my bed. We were saved by miracle. The walls of the house were falling down. My father was injured when he covered my little sister Antonia (two years old) with his body. A cupboard fell on him. We spent the night outside the house waiting for help. We don't have much water and we need a place to stay. Meanwhile, we're staying with our grandfather who lives four blocks away. His house is still there because it's new."
The powerful earthquake struck 70 miles (115km) northeast of Concepcion – the second largest city in Chile with a population of around 900,000. With the arrival of winter, the low temperatures and intense rainfall is a concern for aid agencies like Save the Children eager to enhance insulation in emergency housing in the worst affected areas.
Five months since the disaster Save the Children has:
- enrolled 1,578 children in 18 child friendly centres in the communities of Cauquenes, Chango and Pelluhue
- trained 329 teachers to provide psychological support to children traumatized by the earthquake
- trained nearly 100 volunteers to work in child friendly spaces
- reached 5,275 people with hygiene kits containing items like soap, toothpaste and sanitary towels
Help the children and families affected by the Chile earthquake by donating today:
|
Handmade by Sputnik Agency