Silvia Santander, Chilean Red Cross, Santiago
Carolina is very determined to return home before Christmas. She and her family, as many others of their neighbours at Villa del Mar de Talcahuano, in the Bio Bio region of central Chile, are still living with friends and relatives after a tsunami devastated their houses following the massive earthquake that struck the country in the early hours of 27 February.
“The water swept everything away. After the earthquake, we ran to the hills to protect ourselves. We knew that something else was coming. We left our houses without anything, in our bare feet, to save our lives,” remembers Carolina.
Days of distress and desolation followed. The support of neighbours and volunteers was essential to cope with the pain of having lost everything to the wrath of Mother Nature. “The Red Cross always stayed with us. I was without shoes and I had wounds on my feet. The Red Cross volunteers treated me, giving me first aid and also provided me with a pair of shoes,” adds Carolina.
After a life of working hard, Carolina, like many of her neighbours, must start all over again. But hope has returned. The Chilean Red Cross continues to work tirelessly with the affected communities and it will continue doing so until the last of the affected people can return to a normal life. To help achieve this, the Red Cross has developed a new tool, a new way of working with the community, to help people repair their houses: the RED Card.
The RED Card (for Repair and Development) will allow people to buy tools and construction materials, for an amount of 180,000 pesos (around 300 USD) each, in more than 40 businesses belonging to a specially-designated network of hardware stores to repair their homes. Each family selects the construction materials they need and want.
This debit card, which is personal and non-transferable, will be delivered to some 8,400 families, whose homes were severely damaged. The most vulnerable communities were prioritized and they will continue to be supported by the Chilean Red Cross in the future.
Carolina is happy to have received the equivalent of 180,000 pesos from the Chilean Red Cross because she did not have the resources to begin repairs on her house. The tsunami also took away her husband’s work. “The trucks on which my husband worked were swept into the sea, with all their cargo. He was unemployed for two months, but now we can make a new beginning. He found a new job and we have the Red Cross RED card.”
The most important aspect of the RED Card is that the affected people themselves can decide what to buy, according to their needs. “We can come with big trucks to deliver wood and zinc sheeting, but not everyone needs the same materials, nor in the same amounts. That is why we designed this card to allow the affected people to buy what they need to improve their houses,” explains Miguel Aravena, a shelter technician in the Chilean Red Cross national risk management office.
“If they only need cement, they buy only cement. If they do not need cement but zinc sheeting, then they buy that, or whatever else they need to improve their homes: wood, tools, or a stove. They decide what, and they buy it,” concludes Aravena.
When Carolina received her RED Card, she felt hope returning. “I want to go back home before Christmas. I had no money to repair my house, but now the card brings me closer to returning home”.