Jacci's Earthquake Experience

Dear Family and Friends,

I wrote a long letter last night and lost it. Hope I have better luck with this try.

Some of you have already received a short message from me - either directly or forwarded - saying that the SSNDs and all our houses are in good shape. I wrote that from an internet cafe in another area because we did not have electricity in our area for more than 28 hours.

Probably you have learned much through the news reports and some of this might be repeated but...

On Wednesday evening at 6:40 pm there was an earthquake of 8.0 on the Richter scale with its epicenter in Ica, a city about 125 miles south of Lima. Because of the strength of this movement there was terrible loss of life and property in Ica (at this point more than 500 dead and thousands injured). The shock was felt strongly in Lima and even as far away as hile (south) and Ecuador (north).

Hospitals, churches, schools, homes, roads were destroyed. The rescue effort is hampered by the fact that the Pan American highway, the main road into the city, is in shambles in many areas. Supplies are being sent in by air and the seriously injured are being flown to hospitals in Lima. (I had a personal experience of this when I went on Thursday to see one of our Senior citizens in a hospital in Lima . I could not get in because the hospital was overwhelmed with the victims that had been brought in from Ica.)

Perhaps my personal experience of the earthquake will be of interest to you.

On Wednesday I left our house en route to our church for evening Mass (We only have Mass on Wednesday evening.) I was just about a block or so from our house when the dogs began to howl (They sense it before we do) and the earth began to move. I have experienced many tremors since I have been here but none like this. It is a strange experience to see the ground moving beneath one´s feet.

There were several bursts of what looked like lightning . It was the explosion of the electric transformers. When the sky lit up, it had an eerie color because of all the dust (Remember our roads are not paved in many places.). I must admit that it did cross my mind that this might just be the "end time".

I had just began to greet Tony´s mother (Tony is the director of Los Martincitos´program) before the shake began. We were hugging each other when suddenly she screamed, "¡Los Niños!" (The children!). With that she began to run to her home with me in tow. I told her I could not run in the dark as quickly as she could but that did not matter to her. At one point, I was aware that we were under trees that were swaying back and forth. I was glad to be moving quickly at that point.

After we were reassured that her grandchildren were safe, I went back to our house because I had left two Canadian volunteers there. There were leaving for church after I so I expected to find them in the house. But they were not there. I decided to continue on again to the church.

By this time it was very dark and walking on unpaved streets is not easy. The walk to church usually takes less than five minutes. That night it was over a half hour before I arrived there. The reason was that there were so many people on the street, crying, talking, praying, looking for family members and since I am well known here,(Even in the dark the "gringa" stands out.) many stopped me to hug me, to ask if I were okay, to cry on my shoulder, etc.)

At one point, I found one of our rather feeble Senior citizens from Los Martincitos. I helped her find her home. She now refers to me as her Guardian Angel.

When I arrived at the chapel, I expected it to be full. But it was just the opposite. The priest who was still there said that the people who were there when the earthquake began all ran out to go to their homes to see if their families were safe.

I found my way home and the Canadians were still not th ere. So I went looking for them. I returned home worried since I had not found them only to discover that they were there safe and sound. They had used their heads when the earthquake began and went to an open area (It is loosely referred to as a park) in front of our house.

We spent the rest of the evening sitting in candlelight listening to reports on a portable radio. There was not that much information available at that point because all communication had been cut off with the area most affected.

Many of our neighbors spent the night sleeping in the streets for fear of another strong movement. Today, Saturday, we are still experiencing after shocks and so many people are still very upset and worried. Several of our "Martincitos" were still very nervous when they arrived at the program on Friday.

We slept in our beds that night but I did sleep in my clothes for fear that we would have to go running.

The next day, I spent most of the day visiting the homes of our "Martincitos" to see how they fared and in what condition their homes were. One of the homes - that of Nicolas and Angélica - suffered much damage. Angélica´s bedroom had completely collapsed. Luckily she was in the next room when it happened. Also another wall had fallen. Several of us spent Friday afternoon cleaning out the area and then today, Saturday, several were going to rebuild the room.

If I can (I am not expert in the matter), I will send some pictures of their home to you.

There was a beautiful but sad picture on the front page of our newspaper yesterday. It was that of a young boy holding his mother in his lap. She was severely injured. It made one think of the Pieta because of the way the figures were presented.

There have been many touching,painful stories: that of the 200 people buried in a church where they were attending the Mass for the Feast of the Assumption. It was in this same church where everything fell except for the image of the Crucified Lord over the main altar. It reminded us of the Señor de Los Milagros image.

In another church, the people were not harmed because they were outside the church in the middle of a procession in homor of Mary.

The picture of bodies laid out in the main plaza of Ica was the most difficult for me. I could not imagine what it would be like to walk through that plaza looking for your loved ones among the bodies.

The uncle of one of our neighbors was one of the victims. The family could not go to the funeral because the roads are so blocked.

There are so many other stories....

The suffering of the people will continue for many more weeks and months as more bodies are found amid the wreckage, as people try to rebuild their lives and their homes. Please co ntinue to remember them in prayer.

Some of you have asked how to send money. I do not know how to do it, and do not know if you can do it from your area but the information in the paper was to send donations (in US dollars) to the following banks:
Scotiabank Account number 3022500
Interbank " 2000000001118
Banco de Crédito " 1931586951116

I thank you all who have written, tried to call and could not get through (the lines are okay now), prayed for , worried about us, etc. Your support and concern are a blessing!

Love,
Jacci