Relief staff members are assessing the damages; reports are that all staff and sponsored children in Peru are safe.

August 17, 2007

By Yadira Pacheco - Communications Coordinator, Peru


On Wednesday, immediately following the 8.0-magnitude earthquake 100 miles southeast of Peru's capital city, Lima, World Vision staff began preparing to deliver aid to devastated families and children.

Damages and deaths are reportedly centered in the Ica province, including the municipalities of Chincha, Pisco, Ica, and Imperial, where adobe homes collapsed, burying occupants under the rubble. Hundreds are dead, and thousands are injured or left homeless by the quake's destruction.

Sponsored Children, Staff Safe

World Vision's office in Peru was able to communicate with field staff in the country. "We have been in contact with our staff and the children in World Vision programs, and all are reported safe," says Caleb Meza, World Vision's national director for Peru.

World Vision had no programs or staff in the quake zone, but two of our relief teams arrived there with supplies in fewer than 24 hours following the quake.

"Hospitals are at capacity. It is important that people get medical supplies," says one of our staff members in Peru. "The greatest needs right now are for blankets and warm clothing. It is winter season here."

World Vision Responds

One World Vision team from Bolivia arrived by plane in fewer than 22 hours after the quake; it was the first relief team to reach the isolated, quake-damaged community of Longar, where communications had been cut and there was no electricity. Staff distributed blankets to 50 families who were facing a second night outdoors in temperatures as low as 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

A second World Vision relief team delivered medical supplies to a health center in the Balconcito neighborhood of Chincha, a community of 3,600 people. Meanwhile, a truckload of supplies will shortly arrive in the quake-devastated region. The supplies will include pain medicines, antibiotics, medical supplies for minor surgeries, more than 1,100 pairs of shoes, 5,680 pieces of warm clothing, an additional 150 blankets, and 36,000 units of soap and towels. Two trucks from the towns of Cusco and Ayacucho are also on their way to deliver additional supplies.

Other needs identified by World Vision staff include inhalers for children suffering from respiratory infections and lamps to provide light until electricity is restored.

Situation 'Disturbing'

Jose Luis Ochoa, our emergency team leader in the quake zone, reports that the situation there is very disturbing. The needs are great, and it is taking a long time for aid to arrive because of damaged roads, he says. The Pan American Highway, the main road to the region, is severely damaged, and secondary roads into Ica are circuitous, requiring many additional hours of driving.

Meanwhile, Peru's government has delivered tons of food, clothing, liters of water, tents, and other supplies to the quake zone. However, there is an urgent need for more of these items. "Even [though] there was a prompt response from the government, all the humanitarian aid is not enough for this catastrophe," says Gonzalo Romana, a local government official.

Communications in Peru continue to be a great challenge. Telephone and e-mail communication is sporadic, as the volume of calls going in and out of the country is overloading systems. "We still have problems of communications. There is [no] Internet, nor electricity," Ochoa confirms.

The Aftermath

World Vision staff members in Peru are continuing to coordinate with the Peruvian government as needs are assessed.

The quake death toll, which now stands in the hundreds, has been growing steadily. In the hours since the initial earthquake, aftershocks measuring up to 6.3 on the Richter scale were reported.

Ninety percent of the Ica province's estimated population of 700,000 had their homes destroyed or damaged. Electricity is out, phone lines are down, and there is no running water. In Ica city, home to an estimated 200,000 people, a quarter of the buildings were destroyed, and 85 percent of downtown Pisco was reportedly destroyed, including a church where hundreds of worshippers were killed or injured.

World Vision began helping the people of Peru in 1965 through a series of pastors' conferences. Child sponsorship began in 1975. We operate more than two dozen development programs in Peru, and our sponsors in the United States assist more than 20,000 children and their families there.