Catemu Family

Yesterday Christian met another family that lost everything to the earthquake. Here is the story of the Guillermo Vasquez Puga family.

The Vasquez family live in Catemu, a small town located 85 kilometers from Santiago and 95 kilometers where where I live in Vina del Mar. Catemu is situated in a region called the Ancogua Valley, a region famous for its fertile soil. Most people in the region work seasonally picking and boxing grapes. The other main industry is mining. The largest industry in the town is the Chagres copper refinery. Although Catemu is relatively close to where I live, the climate is very different. In the winter the temperature drops below freezing and in the summer the highs are up to 34 ºC (93.2° Fahrenheit).

Guillermo Vasquez is a gardener, his wife is a homemaker. Together they have three children. Their two daughters who are 4 and 17, and their son is 11. Their house was completely destroyed by the earthquake. Currently they are working as fast as they can to clear the dust and rubble from their property for fear the unstable beams that remain will fall in an after shock. They are hoping to get the dust cleared before the rainy winter starts.

I asked this family if the city government has come to talk to them and offer them a solution, they told me they had. The government offered to leave them a structure called a media agua. A media agua is a small wooden box with no insulation, no electricity, and most surprising no bathroom. They are infamously cold in the winter, especially since the one that they will get will have nothing more than a tin roof. In fact most of the relief efforts in Chile are constructing media aguas for families. The government plans to construct 30,000 of these for the Chilean people as a relief effort. That mean the government and private charities who are collaborating with them solution is leave 30,000 Chilean families with no running water and no bathroom. Meanwhile private companies are donating emergency supplies to families in the south. One company donated $100,000 worth of soda to the relief effort. Soda dehydrates a person, and they are giving it to people that don't have access to running water and won't thanks to the governments plan. To say the least things here are a big huge mess.

I digress, Christian and I want to help this family. They are excellent candidates because the local government is small, which mean burry us with paper work and legal fees. We have seen their land, which is a nice and flat plot meaning that the budget for a new foundation is significantly less than that of most poor families who live on the side of a mountain. Guillermo´s brother also works in construction and told us he would be willing to donate his time. So far all things are looking good.

Last night Christian stayed up working on a plan that would be within our means. The home will be made from cement, except on wall in the back of the house. This is to allow the family to add on easily once they have some money saved. You can take a closer look at the house on our website. We have uploaded a render of the house, the plans as well a budget.

For now, I will attach pictures of the remainders of the home, the family, and a media agua.

To see the plans for our home, a graphic render and our complete and detailed budget please visit viviendapasiva.cl