YMCA Lima supports those affected by earthquake in Pisco

On 15 August 2007, an earthquake struck the city of Pisco, south of Lima, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale. 

A boy walks by temporary tents which have been used as shelters since last summer

Over five hundred people were killed and over a thousand injured. It is believed that over 80% of the buildings in the city were destroyed, leaving 56,000 families homeless. Employment in the city and its surroundings is now virtually non-existent and poverty levels have increased dramatically.

In response to the disaster, Y Care International joined together with partners from the global YMCA movement to provide emergency relief and social development programmes in affected communities and schools.

In many cases, only the external walls of people’s houses were left intact. In Manrique, a suburb of Pisco, families have reconstructed the walls and roofs of their homes with whatever they can find – bamboo, old bricks and plastic sheeting, which offer little protection from the elements.

The community of Pisco are making the best out of what was left of their homes

In Manrique, Y Care International has supported the YMCA of Lima to provide psychosocial support to children, young people, and their families.

The YMCA is also providing psychosocial support and health services to students at ‘Bandera del Perú’ - a girls’ school in central Pisco. The school was almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake. The school is only able to accommodate some of its 2000 pupils in temporary classrooms nearby. Many of the pupils being supported have lost part or all of their family, or have nowhere to live: “Many of the girls have lost everything – their homes and families. Some were pulled from the rubble and are living in houses about to fall over.” (YMCA Project Coordinator).

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