Hi Friends, Nathan Atteberry here, I hope all is well. Suzanne and I are doing well here in Ecuador. We’re making plans to volunteer to help our neighbors to the south in Peru. They’ve had a horrible month with massive amounts of rain and flooding caused by El Nino. Some areas have had more rain in a couple of days than they would normally see in a decade!!
Until today, the flooding has “only” killed about 100 people, but has destroyed nearly 200,000 homes, washed out almost 3,000 km of roads and have destroyed 242 bridges, cutting off the possibility for aide to some of the nearly 1 million people affected. The forecast shows a lot more rain predicted in April as well.
This tragedy is heartbreaking, but maybe not as much as what comes next. After the initial emergency comes the slow and painful recovery period. People are displaced and will have to live in crowded makeshift camps, which usually means compromised Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Massive amounts of standing water can lead to potential outbreaks of mosquito-born illnesses like Chikungunya, Zika and Dengue.
Dr. Suzanne and I obviously can’t fix everything, but we have the desire and will to assist, even if its only a little, in the Northern Area of Peru and specifically in the area surrounding the city of Piura.
THEY NEED WATER.
We have purchased some Sawyer water filters (which are amazing and we use everyday here at our home) and have been given some from our friend at Tears 2 Water. We will be ditributing these filters attached to 5 gallon buckets. This will give us the opportunity to give the Peruvians 60,000 liters of good clean free water per day, everyday.
They will also most likely need assistance with Sanitation and Hygiene. We have experience with constructing basic latrines and simple hand washing stations that can curb the spread of communicable disease.
THEY NEED MOSQUITO NETS.
Living in a flooded area in the tropics brings mosquitos which bring potentially deadly diseases. A simple mosquito net can prevent this, especially for the most vulnerable like children and the elderly. We will be purchasing and distributing mosquito nets.
THEY NEED MEDICAL CARE.
Dr. Suzanne will be providing acute medical care in the rural areas to those needing help who can’t get to the clinic or hospital, either because it can’t be reached or because the medical facility has been destroyed by the flooding.
These are some basic needs that we see at this time. If you feel so inclined to donate a couple of dollars to this cause that would be amazing. We have just returned from Colombia but we want to leave for Peru as soon as possible. We will be using 100% of your money for filters, buckets, mosquito nets, and medicine.
Thanks for you consideration.
Nathan Atteberry
