The last time I posted I said that I would write again soon about my volunteer work I have done since returning to Chile post-earthquake, but I never did that. So I suppose I can do that. The title of my last post became the motto of Un Techo Para Chile (a rooftop for Chile), a non-profit volunteer organization made up of youth between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. It was founded in order to help serve the poor, focussing on ridding the country of ghettos and poor living situations. Chile was the first country to create it, but it now exists in all countries of Latin America. Additionally, the mother organization, which I believe also is based primarily out of chile, is called Un Techo para Mi País...a rooftop for my country. Anyway, after the earthquake, UTPCH hopped on the opportunity right of the bat to recruit thousands of volunteers to build emergency homes for victims...the people would suffered dangerous damages to their homes, or those that lost their homes entirely, most of them due to the tsunami that followed the earthquake, although many people who lived in central-southern chile lost their homes because they were built of adobe or brick and just crumbled to pieces. Talca, Concepción, Chillán are some of the areas that were hit hard by these damages, and of the tsunami, Constitución, Concepción and it's port city Talcahuano, and Pichilemu (known for large waves in Chile, and with the tsunami, it received the larges waves in all of Chile due to the tsunami, thus quite large destruction).
Anyway, as soon as I got back I wanted to help in any way possible. The first time I went, I was able to go with a friend of mine Jorge who studies architecture at a different university, but I went with this university. We were a group of about 60 I'd say and we went to a town called Huelquén, which is near Paine, if you googlemap it. Actually I don't think it even shows up so just search Paine. It is just south of Santiago, but very rural and country nevertheless. We were split into groups of 6-7 people, each with a leader who had experience who could direct us and tell everyone what to do. We were building with materials donated by ONEMI, Chile's natural-disaster relief organization. Onemi got lots of criticism for the number of deaths due to the tsunami, being told that they didn't announce and force evacuation soon enough. Anywho, we were building for an elderly gentleman named Humberto. He was one of 8 or so brothers and sisters, I think 7 of them lived in the house that had been in their family's name since it was built, over 100 years ago, made of adobe..a thick mud structure. Lots of them, little space, and very rural. No running water (typical in countryside pueblo towns of chile)...they have these manual pumps that draw water from wells in the ground, quite cool...kinda like the bike pump my dad made a few years back, but you pump with your hands. That means hole in the ground toilets are standard...and generally the toilet is not connected to the house, duhhh. That would be stinky. Don Humberto and his brothers had a bunch of mini-orchards, which means we were given tonssss of amazing fresh fruits, and I swear, the best grapes I've ever had in my life. They had grapes, corn, apples, almonds, walnuts, peaches, tuna (cactus-fruit), and other things I can't remember. When we left, he gave each of us a massive bag of grapes (like, a grocery bag full), and a small bag of fresh almonds. It was very generous of them. As far as the damage to their home, there were lots of cracks in the walls, but the kitchen, which was at then end of the house, looked like it had been picked up and turned about 30 degrees downward, sloping towards the ground and thus opening a large gap between the top of the wall and the roof. The floor was all cracked and uneven and in pieces.
The second time I went with UTPCH, with Jorge again. This time we were 3 buses full of volunteers, almost all university students. There were 2 German guys, and Argentinean girl, and me as far as foreigners. We went to a town called El Peral, a small town near the city of Los Angeles, about 8 hours south of Santiago. Since we went on Easter weekend and left Wednesday night instead of Friday (which is standard), we were to have 4 days to work (leave late sun night to return) and therefore each group (6 people) was to build 2 homes. Our first family was wonderful. It was a Grandma, her daughter, and her 2 daughters, and one of them had two sons who were 5 and 9. They were so nice, the mom and grandma cooked delicious amazing food which fresh bread every day and the two little boys were the most adorable things ever...I had so much fun playing with them when I wasn't digging a hole or something. I got their address and Jorge and I are going to print some of the pictures we took and send them to them. The kept telling us to come back and visit them next summer, they were really sweet. They lived in a very simple meager home...the 5 of them...I think there might have been one bedroom, maybe 2, and then the living room and the teensy kitchen. The youngest 3 slept in the living room with a mattress they stacked in the corner during the day. Very modest, but so kind.
They second family was just a sweet old lady of 73 years who had no husband or children but lived in the house she was raised in next door to her brother, the only two of the kids that never married. She went by Doña Rosita. It was also an adobe home with no running water and had a lot of rather large cracks in it, and an inspector had come and said that she needed to get out as soon as possible because the damage, especially on the rooftop, was quite bad and could collapse. I could tell she was quite attached to the home, and petrified of further earthquakes...she said since that night she hadn't been able to sleep soundly a single night and often stayed awake in bed all night, scared to death it'd happen again. The second day when we got there in the morning, she was absolutely delighted, full of smiles, hugging all of us...she even started to tear up that morning because she said that she slept well after we'd come, the first time in about 5 weeks since the earthquake. She was a real sweetheart.
The homes are very basic. We are delivered the materials, two floor panels, 6 wall panels, a door, cutouts and covers for windows (all hinge based, no windows), and the aluminum rooftop which has a rubbery something filter panel thing that goes under that to block out water and help hold in some of the cold. We have to dig 15 holes, generally about 2-3 feet deep, and using wood pillars, they are put into the holes and then filled in with a mixture of dirt and rocks to keep them sturdy and not moving, and obviously all leveled out using a clear tube filled with water...gravity. Then the floor panels go on...then the walls and last the roof and doors. I'd say the hardest part and most irritating was the door and windows because at least with UTPCH, we had to cut them out of the panels...and well, using a saw doesnt make for the most even cuts, especially when the wood is full of knots and our group leader, who honestly was a quite bad leader and thougt he knew way more than he did, thought he could cut it the best and then it came out like a 3 year old cut it...and then insisted on screwing the stinking door on and that it would work despite us saying that we should measure it and prolly cut off uneven edges...well lets just say that made for a grumpy long evening.
Anyway, both experiences were really amazing and just all around makes one feel good about themself. Sadly these homes wont protect much from the cold, but lots of people have talked of putting further insulation on them....mud, more walls, etc. They are supposed to be temporary until their own homes are fixed or replaced.
Ok, now i have freezing fingers so I don't think I'm gonna write more right now. BUt I will try and write something within a week or so, and post pictures.
