Latin America Archives - Page 36 of 36

Peru after the earthquake

21/11/2008 Aid Success Story, Conflicts and Disasters, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Latin America, Peru by Caritas Communications

In the course of a few minutes, Peru’s massive 2007 earthquake destroyed everything that some communities had spent years building.Houses collapsed, roads crumbled and essentials such as food and drinking water were suddenly hard to come by for many of the 650,000 people affected. Caritas launched an emergency appeal in the aftermath of the earthquake. ...

Lessons learned in Tabasco floods

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

It is a year since heavy rains caused massive floods which affected one million people in Tabasco, Mexico. Caritas was on the ground and made sure people had food, water and shelter during the worst part of the disaster. Once the emergency was over, Caritas turned its focus to building people’s knowledge and resources to face any ...

Haitians cleaning up after Ike

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Emergencies in Haiti, Haiti, Latin America by Caritas Communications

By David Snyder for CRS and Caritas staff Like tens of thousands of those living in Gonaives, Haiti, Mertilus Jasmin spends most of his days knee deep in mud. Unlike most, however, he has a shovel in his hands, and is earning money to help dig the city out from the effects of Hurricane Ike. ...

Facing the Tabasco floods

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

Last Christmas was a very poor one for Mr Hernández and his family. The massive floods in Tabasco in October and November had ruined hectares of his crops and many of his poultry had died of infections, so he had very little to sell at the market. Mr Hernández had one metre of water in ...

Father Saúl de Jesús Solís Vera, Caritas Tabasco Director during the Tabasco Flood

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

When you’ve just started a new job the last thing you need is to find yourself at the centre of a disaster where many people are turning to you for help This is what happened to Father Saúl de Jesús Solís Vera last year just a few months after he’d started working at Caritas in ...

Erica Dahl-Bredine, Mexico Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services during the Tabasco Flood

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico, North America, United States by Caritas Communications

The only way Erica Dahl-Bredine could reach the trouble spots of flooded Tabasco last November was by army helicopter. “As we flew into Villahermosa, the capital city of Tabasco, everything as far as the eye could see was under water. Whole villages, farmland, almost everything,” says Ms. Dahl-Bredine, Mexico country representative for Catholic Relief Services ...

Hugo Diaz Gutierrez, Caritas Tabasco Logistics Officer during the Tabasco Flood

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

Life since the 2007 floods has been a learning curve for Hugo Gutierrez. Last year he was one of the three part-timers working for Caritas Tabasco when the disaster happened. Father Saul hired a few more people so Gutierrez became a part of a team of seven, but there was still no denying the enormity ...

Emilie Della Corte, Emergency Programme Officer during the Tabasco Flood

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

Soon after the Mexican floods hit, Caritas launched an appeal for US$2 million to help the people of Tabasco. Emilie Della Corte works for Caritas Internationalis’ (CI) Emergency Response team in Rome. She and another colleague went to Mexico City to support Caritas Mexico in developing their emergency appeal. The document would request donations from ...

Solidarity is key – Cardinal Rodríguez

17/08/2008 Advocacy, Aid Success Story, Catholic Teaching, Development, Latin America, Peru, SDG by Caritas Communications

“This is one of the most gratifying experiences, looking at the amount of good that can be done through solidarity among peoples.” Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga has said that solidarity with the poor is vital to the work of Caritas as he marks the first anniversary of his election as president of the network of ...

International AIDS Conference wraps up

15/08/2008 Advocacy, Health, HIV & AIDS, Latin America, Mexico by Caritas Communications

AIDS representatives speaking at the end of the International AIDS Conference 2008, which took place in Mexico City from 3-5 August, have emphasised the need for a combined prevention package. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done. It needs to be done and it must continue but we can’t sit down ...