Terremoto en Ecuador

abril 16, 2016

Educo responded to the emergency and distributed water and good to Verdi Cevallos hospital in Portoviejo, one of the epicenters of the tragedy; the hospital was overflooded with patients in the days following the earthquake. We also worked with our partners in ChildFund to deliver two loads of hygiene kits for affected families in Manabí and Esmeraldas.

In our area of intervention, in the city of Guayaquil, we are collaborating with authorities to repair the schools and health centers that we work with in the marginal neighborhoods of Guasmo and Isla Trinitaria. The 41 schools we work with in the area attend some 30,000 children. Fortunately, neither they nor their families suffered personal damages.

Nineteen of these schools were affected and forced to close some of the educational installations, also delaying the start of the school year, in the first week of May. While these centers have since reopened, our priority is to repair the affected structures and help children recover certain normalcy and overcome the trauma as soon as possible. That is why we collaborate with the Ministry of Education to ensure the most urgent reconstruction projects are undertaken.

Some of the health care centers where we work were also affected, although to a lesser degree. Fortunately, these were able to remain operational. Special mention should be made of CRIEG (Center for Specialized Rehabilitation) in Guasmo, a center of reference in caring for disabled children. In this case, the wall delimiting the children’s play area was seriously affected and represents a real threat to the children. We are collaborating with the Ministry of Health to initiate reconstruction of the area in the near future.