With Peru after the floods
Interview Gianfranco Dulanto, Director of ODP-Peru
Peru was in a national emergency at the end of March and beginning of April due to heavy rains that left more than a hundred dead and at least 236,000 people affected, mainly in the north and center of the country. The education system was also affected, with 253 educational institutions destroyed and 2,617 affected, causing almost 2 million children to be unable to return to school.
All regions of the country were affected by the phenomenon known as “coastal El Niño”, which is caused by an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean that bathes the Peruvian coasts. The water evaporates in large quantities and condenses when it reaches the highlands, causing intense and unusual rains on its desert coast that cause flooding, river overflows and landslides, known in Peru by the Quechua term “huaicos”.
The areas most affected by the emergency have been the region of Piura and the district of Moro in Ancash. In these areas, Entreculturas has been working for years on development projects with local institutions of the Society of Jesus such as Fe y Alegría, Canat, the Office of Development and Procurement of Peru (ODP).
ODP is coordinating the response to this humanitarian emergency, focusing on assisting the most affected families in the provinces of Piura, Morropón, Paita, Sullana and Huancabamba in the Piura region.
Entreculturas has supported the local response of our partners in Peru.
Our intervention is divided into two stages:
- Emergency: in this first phase of immediate assistance, we delivered kits to 1,700 affected families, mainly the hardest hit and who are receiving limited or no support from the government, with basic necessities such as food and water. We are also focusing on sanitation due to the risk of dengue and cholera.
- Rehabilitation and reconstructionThe first phase of the emergency relief program will be completed with the delivery of family kits. post-emergency We are carrying out rehabilitation and reconstruction actions for both infrastructure and crops, as the rains also caused the loss of thousands of hectares of crops, with serious consequences in the medium term. Numerous schools were also severely damaged.
From Entreculturas, we are in constant contact with our teams on the ground to closely follow the evolution of the situation and its consequences.
On a daily basis, we assess which interventions are necessary to rebuild the economic, social and educational fabric of the most affected areas and populations. These actions are being carried out in collaboration with ALBOAN, a Jesuit international cooperation NGO in the Basque Country and Navarra.
