Earthquake relief requires many tools

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 9 March 2001

HUIZUCAR, El Salvador -- In the aftermath of two major earthquakes and continuing aftershocks, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is using many tools for emergency relief: food rations, blankets, comfort, hope.

In this rural municipality, which has been largely overlooked by international relief efforts, Christian Reformed Church pastor Joaquin Ordoñez and his assistant, Mauricio Rivera, are distributing food to 606 homeless families. The rations are funded by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in cooperation with a coalition that includes MCC.

Each ration includes 50 pounds of corn, 15 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of beans and 5 pounds of sugar, a small contribution in the face of such great loss. Committed to the long process of reconstruction, Ordoñez believes that these small but tangible symbols of compassion are also essential to maintain hope in a traumatized population. He is also helping to distribute 300 blankets donated by MCC.

His congregation is highly involved in the disaster response initiative. Around 20 young people mobilized under Rivera's guidance to draw up a census of quake-affected families in the town of Huizucar and 14 surrounding villages.

Reinaldo Morales, an energetic teenager whose own home collapsed in the disaster, participated in the census and came to San Salvador to guide the truck carrying blankets along the bumpy dirt road to Huizucar. His hand swept the stretch of adobe houses that mark the long approach to town: "We walked through this whole area. School has been closed since the Feb. 13 earthquake, so I've had time to help out."

It takes time to cover the municipality of Huizucar - some of the smaller communities are up to a three-hour walk from town.

Time is also required to listen to the experiences of each family in the census. "We have heard this consistently from all of our partners," says MCC El Salvador relief coordinator David Martin. "People have an incredible need to tell their stories."

Trauma and fear from ongoing aftershocks have taken an enormous toll. Nationwide, Vice Minister of Health Herbert Betancourt reports more than 5,000 psychological consultations for earthquake-related depression and nervous disorders.

Andres Mego, a Peruvian doctor working with the Christian Reformed Church in Huizucar, lists stress-related symptoms he has encountered among children: headaches, stomachaches, nausea, lack of appetite. Most difficult, however, are the behavioral responses. Children act out, provoking their tired and anxious parents, who may respond aggressively and add to the children's insecurity.

In an effort to respond to the deep emotional needs awoken by the disaster, MCC is sponsoring a workshop on Accompaniment and Comfort in Tragedies, to be offered by four instructors of the Guatemalan Anabaptist Seminary SEMILLA later this month.

The workshop will present a theological framework for understanding tragedy and loss as part of a larger journey in which God walks forward with us into hope. It will focus on providing participants with skills to counsel those who have lost family members or homes to the earthquake.

The invitation for the workshop has been extended to all MCC and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee counterparts participating in the emergency response coalition, including several from the Christian Reformed Church in Huizucar. Pastor Ordoñez embraced the invitation to broaden his range of relief tools: "We need to be prepared to comfort without falling into despair ourselves."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org