EARTHQUAKE UPDATE #2

Dear Volunteers,

The second day of the natural disaster has brought about more information. The towns of Pisco, Ica and Chincha have reported wide-spread damage to buildings and homes. These towns and the surrounding areas are without electricity, water or sewage systems. Relief efforts are being conducted by Peruvian governmental agencies while the impacted areas are also receiving support from the United States, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela, Israel, Spain and the European Union. Unfortunately, there has many incidents of looting and robbery. Security will continue to be an issue, but hopefully the crime rate will decrease as the government establishes order in the affected towns.

In last two days, we have received numerous requests from Volunteers to travel to Ica to help with the relief effort and/or organize donations of food and medical supplies. However, an effective needs assessment of the impacted areas has yet to be conducted by the government or other organizational entities. We expect to have more information on Tuesday on what the region will need in terms of supplies and assistance. Between all the national and international agencies in the area, there appears to be enough specialized personnel providing immediate assistance. In fact, President Garcia has stated that there are enough doctors and nurses in Ica and what the region requires now is engineers and construction workers.

Over the next week I will speaking with Michael Hirsh and meeting with Senior Staff and Volunteers to discuss ideas on how we can provide assistance to the communities where Rachel, Joselyn, Nicole, Abigail and Amy are serving. Regarding a more widespread initiative for PC/Peru Volunteers to help in the Ica region, I will also discuss this possibility with Staff, PCVs and PC/Washington.

In other news, the Emergency Action Plan was successfully completed. We were able to contact all Volunteers and Trainees in 30 hours. Thank y'all for your cooperation. It was important that we keep you informed about the earthquake as well as confirm your whereabouts. Also, I spoke to Peru 7 about a PC/Panama Volunteer who was vacationing in Peru. He contacted us about an hour ago, so the Panameños are surely relived to know that he is safe.

That's all for now. I will send another update on Monday

Saludos, Marko