Hands On Disaster Relief in Pisco

While I was at my hostel in Lima, I met a girl who had just come back from volunteering in Pisco, the area that was devastated by a huge earthquake the day I arrived to South America. The organization and the work they are doing in Pisco sounded amazing and I decided that I had to go down and lend a hand.

There are about 50 volunteers in Pisco right now with HODR and we all live in a big volunteer house (which actually used to be a restaurant). They rebuilt the walls after the quake and added a couple of showers. I actually sleep in a property across the street which they just added. It´s basically a gutted out building with bunks. We make our own breakfast, but they provide eggs, bread, and oatmeal. And they provide lunch and dinner for us. We have a nightly meeting around the fire after dinner to discuss the projects that are being worked on and what we have coming up. It´s a wonderful experience and a wonderful organization and I feel so lucky to be a part of it.

Getting ready to get started with a hard days work. Most of the jobs right now are clearing rubble and debris and knocking down unsafe buildings and walls so that people can move out of the refugee camps and back to their lots. Once the lot is cleared, the next step is to help them set up modular homes or tents.Salvation Army refugee camp where we eat lunch when we are working in Pisco center. Although, we don´t get too much rest because the kids come in and jump all over us!On Friday, we did a beach clean up project in conjunction with some of the kids from a local school. To our surprise, the coast guard showed up with t-shirts for the kids. They were so excited!

The other day I had my first day at one of the Ludotecas. These are areas sponsored by Unicef that provide toys and a place for the children in the refugee camps to come and play.

Another volunteer, "Jolly," horsing around.

Playing memory. The beat me.

They were given a whole set of new toys in the afternoon which they were so excited about!