Terremoto en Chile / Chilean earthquake relief

As you know, Linda and I — along with our travelling companions Janine and Moroni — were caught up in the aftermath of the Chilean earthquake. While we are unhurt, being far from the epicentre near Concepcion, we are impacted by the damage to infrastructure and can’t escape the huge need faced by the Chilean people.

Puerto Varas, where we’ve passed the last four days since the earthquake, was relatively untouched. We experienced several minutes of tremors and there was some minor damage but the town’s transport, power and telecommunications were most impacted. That said, almost all shops were open that morning and full services resumed in the mid-afternoon.

We’re doing our best to find small ways to help during our remaining time in Chile, but we also have appointments to keep in Peru and must keep moving. Although we have time on our hands now, we’re also far away from the areas which could most use our help.

If you have the resources, please consider making a donation to one of the following organisations.

Local news reports are claiming the quake, at its strongest, was 800 times more fierce than the recent Haiitian earthquake. The government seems to be responding well to the crisis and, although the incumbent president is playing power games with the sitting government, it seems your donations will be brought to the areas of greatest need: water, food and accommodation for the two million or more displaced people; medical supplies for the injured; rebuilding vital infrastructure like power, water and telecommunications systems along with the highways and fallen bridges needed to transport food, gas and other supplies. Watching news reports on the ground and talking with local families, I’m sure your money won’t be wasted.

Click here to make a donation

A penny for your thoughts? Please comment.

1. 
   Keith Says:
   

   Thanks for posting about this. I’ve made a donation and hope the people of Chile recover from this disaster quickly.

   March 5th, 2010 at 6:35 am
2. 
   Andy Hayes | Sharing Travel Experiences Says:
   

   Great – thanks for sharing this, really helpful.

   March 7th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
3. 
   Lucy Says:
   

   You two never cease to amaze me. Every article is presented with compassion and absolute concern for the well being of others. You are truly inspirational and very deserved of your awards for travel e-blogs. This must have been, or still is, a challenging time in your travels. Thank you for sharing this with your readers.

   June 9th, 2010 at 4:49 am

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