One year after the earthquake Caritas has completed 235 new homes for earthquake victims and repaired or improved 594 homes.
Credits: Caritas
On 27 February 2010, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami hit Chile. More than two million people were affected.
The disaster pushed 500,000 people into poverty.
“This disaster not only was a devastating event, but also one that revealed once more the cracks in our development process and the inequalities that exist in our country”, wrote Caritas Chile’s President Bishop Manuelo Camilo Vial in an introduction to a special brochure commemorating the disaster.
Caritas Internationalis has been supporting earthquake victims from the first day of the disaster with emergency aid and long term rehabilitation projects. Altogether, the Caritas response reached more than 800,000 people.
“Today, we should not consider that our work is over. We need to continue to accompany in their sorrow the thousands of families who are still suffering”, wrote Bishop Vial.
An overview of the Caritas response
An interview with Caritas Chile’s Secretary General Lorenzo Figueroa.
Read about shelter projects in Chile and how Caritas is helping entire communities to rebuild.
View the one year anniversary commemoration brochure from Caritas Chile (in Spanish)
View Caritas Chile’s special web page on the anniversary (in Spanish)