On May 7-17, 2012, eight youth and faith formation ministers and two CRS staff members traveled to El Salvador through the Called to Witness program. Sponsored in collaboration with the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (www.nfcym.org), Called to Witness provides short-term, firsthand experiences of the developing world as seen through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. Shawnee Baldwin, Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT wrote this reflection.

On Tuesday, May 15, the Called to Witness group visited a disaster risk reduction program in the community of San Francisco Aqua Agria, nestled in the shadow and smell of an active volcano. This community had already been devastated by back to back earthquakes in 2001, and is often subject to hurricanes and flooding. Everyone had a story to tell: a home destroyed; a grandma injured; a loved one killed. They remain on high alert during the rainy season as a simple storm can trigger a flood that literally rips away the foundation of this quiet hamlet of 124 families.
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By Robin Fieser

The Pope arrives in Havana on Tuesday and the old city’s cobblestone streets are teeming with camera-toting tourists eagerly awaiting his arrival. Hotel lobbies are bustling, restaurants are hopping, and a fleet of 1950s American cars cruises up and down Havana’s main streets shuttling tourists from one sight to the next.

Far from the tourist center is A La Mar, an urban enclave created in the early 1960s for supporters of the revolution. A La Mar was originally designed as a new city for the “new man” of the revolution, based on communist and atheist ideas. Today, it is a “bedroom community” with no jobs, no services, bad transportation and widespread poverty, said Father Isidro Hoyos.

Our friends from Caritas Cubana took me there this weekend to show me a program for people with Down syndrome. Each Saturday for three hours, 18 children with Down syndrome and their families — mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers — meet at Father Hoyos’ parish house in A La Mar to share their experiences and learn from one another.
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By Alsy Acevedo, CRS staff

Updated on October 19

Ongoing rains in Central America have caused severe flooding and affected thousands of people in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. All four countries have declared a state of national emergency.

In Honduras, more than 69,000 people were displaced and the majority of the damage was done in the southern departments of Choluteca and Valle. In Nicaragua, floods have affected more than 133,000 people. CRS, through partner Caritas, is distributing pre-positioned emergency kits in affected areas in Honduras and Nicaragua.

CRS is also working with our local Caritas partner in El Salvador to provide initial food and supplies to a total of 5,417 families housed in shelters managed by parishes and in homes in the dioceses of Sonsonate, Santiago de Maria and San Salvador, where groups of families have taken refuge.

In Guatemala, CRS is providing immediate assistance through local partners and has allocated emergency funds to transport readily available items such as hygiene kits, cleaning kits, safe water kits and water tanks to provide relief to up to 1,200 families in Retalhuleu, Santa Rosa and Escuintla.

Regional technical advisor for emergencies, Holly Inurreta, is helping with the response to the 8.8 earthquake that rattled Chile on February 27. The following is part of her first-hand account of the response in Chile.

In 1985, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Chile and CRS assisted in that response, 25 years later, I’m seeing firsthand the impact that our work can have over time. Then, much like today, the coast of Chile suffered severe damage. Homes were leveled and people were left sleeping in makeshift camps. With the monetary support of CRS, Caritas Talca designed a model wooden home to respond to the need for shelter. A quarter century later people continue to live in these modest homes, and some have added extra rooms to expand their living space.

It’s summer here, but it was very chilly this morning. In the winter temperatures get below freezing and the rain starts in May. Most of the fallen structures are adobe and when it rains this is going to turn into slushy mud and make things worse. We went to a camp today that was basically a covered basketball court where everyone was staying. One image stuck with me, it was of an elderly woman sitting on a mattress outside flipping through a magazine. That woman and all those people staying in the camp are going to be extremely vulnerable when the temperatures begin to drop. The most important thing we can do in Chile right now is to get people into shelter that is prepared for winter. In a way it is similar to the situation in Haiti, where you are literally racing against time to get people into shelter before the rain starts.
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Regional Technical Advisor for Emergencies, Holly Inurreta, is helping with the response to the 8.8 earthquake that rattled Chile on February 27th. The temblor killed an estimated 700 and displaced around 2 million. Holly is traveling with CRS South America zonal representative, Brian Goonan, visiting different Caritas Chile members, and gives us a first hand account of the response in Chile.

We were in a meeting with the archbishop of Concepción when the aftershocks hit. One reached a magnitude of 7.2, the strongest one to date. It felt like I was sitting in a swimming pool, my chair was rocking as if on water. I looked up at the wall and saw a picture of the Virgin Mary. I wondered if the quake would cause it to move or fall, but the building we were in was solid, the epicenter was much farther north, and we were completely safe.

The caretaker of the house we stayed in was at the supermarket in Talca when the earthquake struck. The store had just reopened and her cart was filled with food, when the aisle began to shake. Everyone ran out. Soon afterward, the store allowed 20 people back in to check out, and then the second aftershock hit. The store closed its doors for the day. She was left without any groceries and had to leave empty-handed.

People were calm after the aftershocks in Concepción. The main damage in the area was caused by the tsunami tides that flooded the city and not the earthquake itself. So when a tsunami alert was announced yesterday you could see the panic return. In recent days people had developed a daily rhythm and had begun the process of settling back into their communities. Church volunteers were bringing in boxes of relief supplies and people were trying to get back in their homes. As a precaution the community was evacuated because of the strength of the aftershock but fortunately there was no tsunami, although some areas of Chile did suffer damage.
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A woman looks out over rubble in a street in Talcahuano hit by an earthquake and then later by three tsunami waves. Photo by Holly Inurreta/CRS

Regional technical advisor for emergencies, Holly Inurreta, is helping with the response to the 8.8 earthquake that shook Chile on February 27. The temblor killed an estimated 700 people and displace about 2 million. Holly is traveling with CRS South America zonal representative, Brian Goonan and Caritas Concepción representative, Jaime Torres Jofre, and gives us a first hand account of what she saw as she traveled to the earthquake’s epicenter in Concepción.

What under pre-earthquake conditions would have been a five-hour trip from Santiago to Concepción took us seven. We traveled over stretches of highway that were in good condition, pockmarked by downed bridges and cracked asphalt in several places.
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From our friend Patrick Nicholson, Caritas communications officer.

A clearer picture of the damage caused by a massive earthquake in Chile is emerging as communications links with affected areas become established. Eight out of 27 dioceses were affected by the quake. The office of the local Caritas in Concepción was destroyed. Staff are safe and continue to work out of the bishop’s house. The national office of Caritas Chile was partly damaged but remains operational.

Caritas in Concepción is running a three site receiving aid and delivering them directly to people in need. Aid distribution are on a small scale so far, but over a thousand people have received food.

Help begins on a larger scale Thursday with 20 trucks leaving Santiago in the afternoon for Concepción. The trucks carry 15 tonnes of food kits. These include 800 grams of powdered milk, 1 litre oil, 1 kg sugar,1 kg salt, 2 boxes of tea,1 kg rice, 2 cans of tuna. Caritas is also distributing hygiene items.