This is it!

Get ready to go!  It is going to be fun, good food, and at the same time, you will be helping so many people who need our help....

Immense grief...

Long before the earthquake, I used to visit a blog called Polin en Camino.  Polin lives in Concepcion (my home town), and I used to love her posts and photos because they were so familiar.  Now, after the earthquake, she has evolved into this amazing person (my hero).  She has organized a group of volunteers to go and help the people from Santa Clara, Talcahuano.  These people lost everything, and Polin is determined to help them in any way she can, from cleaning what was left from those houses to provide them with clothes, blankets, even stoves... And in the middle of all that, she tells us the story... the story of those whose lives will never be the same again...  

Bernardina's story comes to us from Santa Clara.  Polin says that you look at her and she is very silent.  She doesn't say anything.  Her hands, her gestures are filled with pain, that sort of pain that penetrates your bones.  The day of the earthquake, as soon as her house was shaking all over, Bernardina got out as fast as she could – she had always been scared of earthquakes.  Her 33 year old daughter stayed in bed, she hated these stressing situations, so she decided to stay in bed, together with her niece.  Her husband took Pablo, her 4 year old son, and asked her to get up, but she continued in bed.

Bernardina was already with her other 3 children in the street and decided to get to the hills, without waiting for them.  While she was climbing, she saw how the water was entering the houses... there was no time to repent now... she had to keep on going...

When the morning came, and the water had receded, she came to the place her house once had been... there was nothing left... Nobody said anything...the water had taken everything... including her daughter... Little Pablo suffers.  The ocean took his mom away, he is awfully scared of aftershocks, and he doesn't seem to make sense of it all. 

Bernardina keeps on looking around, hoping something can change this immense grief….

Invitation... RSVP

The Consulate General of Chile invites you to "The Ultimate Traveler Benefit Event for Chile" on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30pm.

Event: The Ultimate Traveler Benefit Event for Chile
What: Fundraiser
Start Time: Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30pm
End Time: Tuesday, April 13 at 10:00pm

Where: Student Union Building UBC
6138 STUDENT UNION BOULEVARD
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1
Admission by donation!

How long can they wait for help...?

These pictures are from Concepcion, from Polin en Camino.  She lives there.  With her 2 children, her husband, and her lovely brother who has been working in the area as a volunteer to help people in need...

Her pictures will show what downtown looks like... Piles of debris everywhere...

And holes... like a war scene...

But even worse than that is the situation that people from Talcahuano are living... They have been without water since the earthquake.  Streets haven't been cleaned, there is mud and fish still all over the place, rotten... full of flies...

Polin talked to some of the people from Talcahuano.  One of them, Ana, told her the water was black, penetrating every corner of her house... and she thought she was going to die there... but his partner, Pedro, had reached the roof of the house, and she doesn't know how... he managed to catch her and bring her to the roof with him...

The water was getting higher and higher... Pedro managed again to grab one of his neighbours and bring him to the roof, too.  "On the radio, thye were telling us not to move from our houses, to be calm... And I believed that...!" said Ana.  At least 9 people from that street died.

Further down the road, Polin finds Marioli and her 3 daughters, living with her parents.  She lost everything.  She was 3 days without food or water... One of her daughters, Nicole, was operated on her spine, and she cannot afford to get sick.  The conditions under which they are living now are very risky for her health.

Polin continues walking around, and finds Néstor, wearing an overall.  He is cleaning mud and algae from what it used to be his house.  There is a sad look in his eyes.  She asked him if he needs anything... He says he doesn't.  But she realises he needs everything.  There is nothing left.

"It's difficult to imagine yourself without anything in life... your things, your clothes, pictures... the water took everything with it..."

Empty pieces of land, house are gone... So people just put a sign with their family name on it...

Thank you, Polin, for being our eyes...

There is still a lot of help needed in this area... Concepcion, Talcahuano, and Lota, too.

If you are in Vancouver, don't forget the  FRIED FISH & SALAD… Chilean Style,

April 03, Sat. - Chilean Housing Coop. 3390 School Av.
No time for this event?  Phone the Chilean Consulate in Vancouver and find out all the ways you can help...
Have a meaningful Easter weekend!