Chilean earthquake survivors face challenges as temperatures fall

“We still tremble with fear during the aftershocks. We would rather sleep in the mediaguas than in our own houses,” says Stefanía Campos. According to the University of Chile’s Seismological Service, on 20 May an aftershock registering 3.7 on the Richter scale, whose epicentre was located 7 kilometres east of Pichilemu in the O’Higgins region, created confusion and anxiety. People feel safer in a ‘mediagua’ (simple wood housing units provided as temporary housing) than in their adobe or concrete houses, most of which suffered structural damage in the earthquake.

Although the situation is different from region to region (mountains, coastal areas and desert), three months after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck central Chile on 27 February, affected families still face many challenges. Aftershocks are still being registered, temperatures are falling, work is scarce and their financial status is precarious.

Cayetano Segundo Piño, who lives in Paredones, some 300 kilometres from the capital city, Santiago de Chile, is especially concerned about the winter. “Even though this year it has not really rained yet, last year at this time, we had had four periods of strong rains,” he says. The Chilean winter’s coldest months are from May to October, and although temperatures have not yet reached their lowest levels, his family is already struggling with temperatures reaching -5ºC, a situation made worse by cold air coming in through the holes and cracks in the walls and roof of the house.

Cayetano Segundo explains that he became ‘encalillado’ (indebted) because he had to take out loans to buy materials to fix his house. “It is really hard to ‘salir de calilla’ (pay off your debts) when you find out that you need more and more repairs as the weather gets colder and the threat of rains that might cause the house to collapse completely, becomes real,” he adds. “We have managed so far, but we know that we need to repair the damages as soon as possible.”

This time of year is particularly hard for most heads of family who are 'temporeros', seasonal workers and farmers or fruit collectors, who work according to the agricultural calendar. They are not able to buy materials to repair their houses or reinforce their ‘mediaguas’ since most of them do not work in the winter. Most work in this region is found in the summer (from January to March) when they can work in vineyards, orchards (picking plums, apples) or fields (reaping wheat or quinoa) crops. There is no work the rest of the year, so they focus on looking after their families and keeping them warm and safe. Otherwise, they need to migrate to other areas where they can find job opportunities.

Under these circumstances, the Chilean Red Cross assistance, supported by the IFRC, was more than welcome for nearly 10,000 families, who benefited from distributions of food and relief, health care, water and sanitation services, etc. In addition, the IFRC will support 8,400 families who will receive tools and construction materials to repair or rebuild their homes, through the Chilean Red Cross RED (Repair/Rehabilitation and Development) debit card, to be launched on 27 May.

The debit card’s main characteristics are that it is non-transferable, not valid for cash from automatic teller machines, and designed to be used only to purchase tools and construction materials in designated businesses. Each debit card will be distributed with a 'user manual', which provides practical tips on safety, purchasing at the best price, and partnering with neighbours on product delivery in order to reduce costs.

Miguel Vega, IFRC team leader for the Chile earthquake operation, underlines that “further assessments are being carried out to better adjust our actions to people’s real needs and to extend our help to other areas”. Since the disaster, the IFRC, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Red Cross Societies from countries such as Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Germany, Japan, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, as well as the Turkish Red Crescent, have mobilized – and sent to Chile – some 80 experts in disaster response, in support of the Chilean Red Cross.