Emergency in El Salvador

By Joshua | October 9th, 2005 | No Comments

Right after posting my entry on AJWS, the spirit of tikkun olam (healing the world), and the inspiration of Jose “Chencho” Alas, I received an urgent message from Chencho and The Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America, an organization for whose integrity and effectiveness I will vouch. The village, Ciudada Romero, where I stayed last spring is now under water.

Please read Chencho’s note below and, if you are on the west coast, keep an eye on their website for an opportunity to meet Chencho yourself — he is currently on a west coast speaking tour, which may or may not be interrrupted by the disaster. Here’s how you can help:

Dear Friends,

Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Stan are flooding the communities we serve in El Salvador.

Floodwaters have reached Ciudad Romero and there’s a massive evacuation underway for that community and all of the others down river. One of the levies at the bottom of the river has already broken. The hydroelectric dam upstream is releasing 5000 cubic meters of water per second, the same amount of water that it was releasing for Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (when flooding devastated the region).

Our partner, the Coordinadora, has helped 4,200 people evacuate from the most effected communities. Some still remain trapped in Ciudad Romero and other communities. Yesterday, the 600 people trapped in Ciudad Romero’s shelters only received enough food for 200!

Your donation will help respond to this disaster:
* $200 will respond to a community’s health needs (diarrhea, bronchitis, dengue, etc.)
* $100 will evacuate 20 families
* $35 will feed a family for a week
* A gift of any size will help

To give a secure online donation, click here:
http://fssca.net/donate/online.html

You can mail your checks to:

FSSCA
314 E Highland Mall Blvd, Ste 208-6
Austin, TX 78752

Sincerely,

Jose “Chencho” Alas
chencho@fssca.net

PS, We will post regular updates on our website here: http://fssca.net/news/stan.html