Earthquake in Chile 6

Sunday March 7^th

On Sunday morning we were awakened by the last night watcher at 6am. After a quick hot drink, we headed out to Santa Rosa, and outlying area of Lebú.

When we arrived, there was already a hoard of people from the community lined up with their Red Cross ticket to collect their allotment of food and water!

Everything started out pretty civil, but grew increasingly intense as the food started being handed out. Thank goodness for the army was about all we could think. If they had not been there to keep order, I think there would have been trouble, and things could have gotten out of hand very rapidly.

We announced that in order to try to prevent any outbreaks of disease such as distemper and parvovirus in dogs and to interrupt parasitic cycles we would be vaccinating and de-worming dogs. About 10 minutes later people started showing up at our truck for vaccines with dogs of all sizes, shapes and breeds. There were so many, that we had to limit it to those at highest risk- young puppies between 2 and 6 months, and then if we could get through that age group, we would start with 6-12 months and so on.

We turned a lot of dogs away due to illness. Many had fevers, lethargy, runny eyes and nose, diarrhea, vomiting and other general signs of poor health. The majority of dogs we saw had signs of parasitic diseases that are potentially transmissible to people like mange and ringworm. Most had never been vaccinated or de-wormed before. We got through as many dogs as possible before the army just about threw us in the truck as it was time to get to the next small community of Lebú, and it appeared to us that there was some kind of trouble brewing at the back of the truck…but we don´t know. We got quickly into the truck and closed the doors and windows, with people crowding around the truck hoping to get something more from us…it was intense.

At the next community, it was much the same, but less intense somehow. We met the community at a small public school.

One of the teachers approached me to welcome and thank us for coming to their small community, and then broke down crying in my arms. She said it has been so hard, so much sadness and need. It was hard to hear, and know that there was really not much more that I could do for her, other than listen and hug her. Altogether we vaccinated 63 healthy puppies, and de-wormed a whole bunch more. It was a complete whirlwind of activity and stress, but we got as much done as we could.

We also gave small bags of food to the people who didn´t have any..it was all we could do for the moment. When all 10 tons of food we brought had been distributed, it was time to go. It seemed a drop in the bucket.

There were so many that needed so much more, and there were some that somehow never received their Red Cross ticket for a food box, and there was nothing we could do about it. There was enough for 400 families, and that was it. Our only consolation was that for those people and about 100 dogs, they were all probably sitting down to the first decent meal they had had since the earthquake. There were a few dogs that if exposed to common canine diseases in the next while would be immune, and for those dogs in close contact with owners, they would not be carriers of parasites that could potentially be transmitted to people. That would have to be enough for this weekend. It was time to head back to Valdivia, and begin plans for the next trip.

I have never asked for donations on this blog, but if anyone has a few extra dollars, it goes a much longer way down here than there. We are planning many more trips to the affected areas in the hopes of avoiding disease outbreaks and to help prevent some of these dangerous diseases occurring in people especially while they all are living together in close quarters under unsanitary conditions. Thanks so much!