Peru's Wednesday-evening quake caused buildings to collapse, destroyed major motorways and knocked out power along the coast. Photo Credit: Reuters/Stringer, courtesy of www.alternet.org

As relief teams rush to reach survivors in earthquake-stricken coastal areas of Peru, Mercy Corps is joining with Partners of the Americas to meet the urgent needs of affected families.

Right now, Partners emergency workers are on the ground in Peru helping secure and distribute shelter materials, water purification tablets, tents, tools, first-aid kits and other humanitarian items needed for families trying to recover from the largest earthquake to hit their country in decades.

At least 510 people have been confirmed dead and 1,000 wounded since a massive 7.9-magnitude quake struck south of Peru's capital, Lima, on Wednesday evening. More than 16,000 homes have been destroyed and 80,000 persons directly affected by the disaster, according to news reports.

Emergency workers are on the ground in Peru helping secure and distribute shelter materials, water purification tablets, tents, tools, first-aid kits and other humanitarian items needed for families trying to recover from the largest earthquake to hit their country in decades.

Mercy Corps has worked in Latin America for more than 20 years, and currently operates relief-and-development programs in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia. The agency shipped critical humanitarian aid supplies to the region after Hurricane Stan in 2005 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Although Mercy Corps currently has no office in Peru, the organization's veteran emergency team recognized the immense needs resulting from the quake and selected an experienced local partner to help speed resources to affected families.

Experienced aid workers on Mercy Corps' Latin America team, along with Carlos Cardenas, Mercy Corps' director of health programs and a native of Peru, chose Partners of the Americas because of their excellent reputation and extensive volunteer network in the region. Founded in 1964, Partners is the largest volunteer-based organization in the Western Hemisphere engaged in social, economic and cultural development.

In the days ahead, we'll be collaborating to determine how best to support the longer-term recovery of communities hardest hit by the quake, many of which were impoverished communities along Peru's Pacific coast.




Contributed by Mercy Corps.

To read another Global Envision article about disaster relief, see Responding to Floods in Upper Nile, Sudan.



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