On 15 August, at about 6:30pm, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale, hit Peru. Its epicentre, about 70km out to sea, was close enough to wreak havoc in a number of cities, including Pisco and Ica, and was felt as far away as Lima and Arequipa. More than 500 people lost their lives, many more were injured, and even more were made homeless. The scenes of devastation have been and are still being screened on TV all over the world.
These last few days I had the opportunity to visit the cities of Pisco and Ica. The Toyota Land Cruiser and the station wagon were packed with clothes, blankets, food and water. Most of the stuff was to be delivered to a mission station turned distribution centre administered by the Hermanas Dominicas del Rosario in the zone of San Clemente in Pisco.
Fr Victor Livori, Mario, Kipler and myself left Arequipa on 19 August at 5pm, and after a few initial hitches, were soon on the way. We drove past Camana, Nazca, and some smaller cities, and arrived in Ica at about 8:30am on Monday. The damage soon became evident. While the more modern buildings, built according to anti-seismic regulations, were mostly spared damage, the older and poorer buildings, built of adobe (bricks made of earth and rice plant straw), were not. Boundary walls, houses, and even churches, could not resist the force of the earthquake, and came crashing down, burying, injuring and sometimes killing those unlucky enough to be inside.
The Dominican sisters in Ica welcomed us and told us they did not need help, and instructed us to move on to Pisco. We came to the mission station of San Clemente, and immediately noticed the damaged and destroyed houses, and the people cooking and practically living out on the streets. Makeshift tents and huts were set up. Those lucky enough not to lose their house still made it a point to sleep outside. Parish youths helped us to unload most of our stuff.
We asked the youths to indicate to us a poor area, where people were in great need. They mentioned the zone of Santa Rosa, and offered to come with us. We drove there, and the scene which welcomed us was worse than I had imagined or seen up to then. All the houses were either damaged or totally destroyed.
We stopped again further down the road, and children and other people started to gather around our cars, all saying that they were desperately in need of help. I decided to walk around, and was soon enough shown into a damaged house. A wall had fallen through, most of the plastering had fallen off, and the house was littered with broken bricks, bits of plaster, roofing, and more. The courtyard boundary wall had fallen and now covered the courtyard. From what was once the courtyard, one could see other houses - all damaged beyond repair. She introduced me to her husband, who appeared to be quite upset about having lost so much. Also to her daughter and her baby, who needed to be fed. I promised and gave her some packets of milk powder.
Another woman said she needed food for her one day old son. The infant was born after the earthquake, and she had still not decided upon a name. He brought her joy, and life goes on, even in the face of disaster. Some packets of milk powder was all I could give her. She needed blankets, but we did not have any more.
A young man was clearing the rubble from his houses´ bamboo stick roof. One wall had fallen, and rubble littered the ground inside and outside his house.
A woman showed me the wounds on her foot, where she was hit by falling rubble. "No one is helping us here," she kept saying, and that statement was repeated by others, adding "we lost everything," and "first and foremost, it is food we need".
The people were, still are, and will be, in dire need of food, clothing, blankets, medicines, and ultimately money and material to rebuild their houses. The President of Peru has promised to have the city rebuilt in two years. More like five, in the minds of many people. We were only able to deliver some food and clothing to a few people. Much more is needed.
As we started to move away, after distributing practically everything we had, a man came running after me, shook my hands and thanked me for coming and giving something. “Gracias, padrecito, gracias!!”. "Con mucho gusto", I replied, reminding myself that it was not for the sake of curiosity that we came here, but to show solidarity, and to come to know some of the people and how they can be helped.
After a short rest at the mission station, we started our return journey. On the way we visited the Sanctuary of our Lord of Luren, in Ica. The Sanctuary has a special significance, much like our Ta' Pinu. It was extensively damaged by the quake, and four people were killed when one of its belfries came crashing down. Unfortunately I was not able to visit the church in Pisco where, at the time of the earthquake, Mass was being celebrated for the repose of a certain person who died a week before. There too, the church tower fell, bringing down with it the church roof. Over 130 people were killed, including the whole family of the man who had died a week before. A baby was found and rescued two days after the quake. Already people are speaking of a number of children´s homes being set up to cater for the newly-made orphans.
I suppose the answer to the question as to why such a disaster happens, and so many lives are lost or shattered is beyond us. What is not beyond us is our solidarity with the victims, and our commitment to help in the best way we can. Christ´s call to love our neighbor as ourselves, urges us on.