First of all, I am safe. Nothing in my apartment in
Quito has been damaged. I haven't lost access to clean water, electricity, or food. The roads are all good. But, again, this is in Quito.
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| In Canoa, December 2014 |
I am nearing the end of my second year in
Ecuador, a place that I have been comfortably calling my home for quite a while now. This may seem like not a big deal to you, but for me it is. Since my parents officially proceeded with their divorce in 2003, I have lived in fourteen houses, apartments, dorms, duplexes... Whatever. Eleven of those were between 2003 and early 2011. These are places I lived at for at least six months, and it doesn't include the countless other couches I've slept on in between, while I waited to move into the next one. In my final apartment in Milwaukee, on Marshall Street, didn't feel like home until my third year living there. For me to instinctly call Ecuador my home is a big deal for me.
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| Zumbahua, April 2015 |
Ecuador is a third world country. I know it may not seem that way in my blog posts, pictures, videos, status updates, instagrams, or snapchats.
Ecuador is a third world country. If I'm not mistaken, the minimum wage per month is around $300. There are many people who don't even make that much. Again, I know it may not seem like that, seeing as I teach in a private international school with students of privilege. But the majority of Ecuadoreans live in poverty. And I don't take pictures or video of that, because I don't feel like it's appropriate for me to treat the impoverished as a spectacle. I'll admit that I live VERY comfortably, and that I don't experience what most people here do. But
Ecuador is still a third world country.
This was the second earthquake I have felt. The first one was back a few weeks, on March 15th. It was small and lasted about 10 seconds, while I was in the middle of my first period class. The epicenter was in Quito, with a magnitude of 4.1
This most recent one I felt for a solid two minutes, and was a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter Scale. 5,011 times bigger than my first. 354,813 times stronger than my first. I was about 100 miles away from the epicenter, and it felt too real.
Let's call it what it is, though. Ecuador is incredibly beautiful. The people are incredibly humble, helpful, and friendly. The buildings and infrastructure are lacking in their integrity. Many people, especially, in the rural and coastal regions, build their own houses. And, due to a lack of income, they cannot either build their houses completely or properly. One of our basic needs is for housing. I do not fault them in the least, because they are trying to meet their basic needs.
Canoa is apparently 90% flattened.
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| Me in Canoa, May 2015 |
Bahia de Caraquez is severely impacted. I can only imagine what San Vicente, the more impoverished city immediately across a bridge from Bahia, looks like.
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| Me in Bahia, December 2014 |
Manta is not in good shape.
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| During my excursion in Manta, December 2014 |
Electricity has been restored in Puerto Lopez, my favorite place in the entire world, but I fear the amount of damage they sustained.
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| Puerto Lopez, March 2016 |
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| Cotopaxi has been consistently spewing ash since August 2015. |
Let me make my case. Please help. A little bit of money does go a long way. I know many people are apprehensive about donating to organizations when there are these kinds of destructive natural disasters... and it doesn't help that some organizations are shady enough by inappropriately "allocating resources." But help me help my home. If you are apprehensive about donating to an organization, donate to me. The response and solidarity in this beautiful country in the last 48 hours has been incredible. People, churches, and groups are organizing drives to collect supplies like water, clothing, and food for the affected people. And don't let me forget to paint the picture of what I have been hearing about their quality of life since the temblores. Families are sleeping outside in fear that their houses will collapse. Let's also not forget that the Zika virus has been detected in the coastal region of Ecuador since October, at least. Before that was the chikungunya virus. Costeños haven't been getting a break and I fear it will be a long time until they do.
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| Quito, Outside the Historic Center |
Instead of just praying for the affected people, do something proactive that will help this process move quicker. Contact me, via direct message, if you are able and willing to donate anything. You can wire money directly to me, give me an IOU for when I return to the USA in July (
only for a week though), give money to my parents who can deposit it in my bank account. I can use that money to purchase food and water, which can then be transported to the coast. The recovery process will very likely take longer than the damage caused by the temblors in Japan last week, because they are a wealthy, first world nation with the capacity to prepare properly (infrastructure-wise) for these kinds of things. My heart breaks knowing that this is going to be a long road to recovery.
Help me Help Ecuador, please.
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| Just below the access road to the Teleferico, Quito |
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| A View Down to Bahia de Caraquez from the mirador |
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| Driving through Machalilla, Manabi, Ecuador |
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| View of Parque Metropolitano Guanguiltagua, from the Basilica del Voto Nacional |
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