Thursday, December 10, 1998
UCLA organizations send relief to hurricane survivors
NICARAGUA: Student groups collaborate to initiate food, clothing
drives, medical aid for disaster victims
By Jaime Wilson-Chiru
Daily Bruin Contributor
Although Hurricane Mitch left tens of thousands of people in
Nicaragua and Honduras homeless, many have rushed to donate food,
clothing and medical supplies to help those in need of
assistance.
At UCLA, professors, members of cultural clubs and other UCLA
affiliates have campaigned to collect supplies to send to Nicaragua
and Honduras, the two Central American countries hit hardest by
Hurricane Mitch.
As part of this effort, UCLA organizations such as the
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), the Latin
American Student Association (LASA), and Mujeres Unidas have raised
funds and collected goods from several collection boxes throughout
campus.
"Initially, our campaign was centered around a food drive," said
Henry Perez, MEChA’s chairperson.
"There have been a lot of donations of clothing and medical
supplies as well," Perez said, adding that these supplies are then
sent to the most devastated areas of Central America.
Since Hurricane Mitch struck in early November, MEChA has
actively supported relief efforts in Nicaragua and Honduras. Their
goal is to aid hurricane victims as well as raise awareness of the
situation here on campus.
"The Community and Labor Relations Committee has been initiating
and carrying on the task of our food drive," Perez said. This group
is responsible for making sure that the community is aware of
situations such as Hurricane Mitch.
"The people at the Community Programs Office are coordinating
(where the food is sent)," said Li’i Furumoto, coordinator of
MEChA’s Community and Labor Relations Committee. Working in
conjunction with the Community Programs Office (CPO) and ASUCLA,
MEChA has been able to inform many about their cause.
Currently, MEChA is working with ASUCLA to make it easier for
students to make donations to hurricane victims. For example,
students can give cans of food to the management office next to the
X-Cape arcade in Ackerman Union in exchange for free video
games.
LASA has a collection box located in their office, and Mujeres
Unidas has been working with outside organizations, such as El
Rescate, to help the victims.
"It’s basically a lot of individuals that are doing a lot of
things," said LASA President Yesenia Alvarez.
Another organization, Witness for Peace, maintains an
international team in Central America and was eager to help the
hurricane victims by sending medical assistance.
"We sent down a medical delegation to Honduras," said Emily
Firman, an outreach intern for Witness for Peace.
The November delegation was comprised of doctors, emergency
medical technicians, physician assistants and wilderness medics.
Three medical school students from UCLA and two from UC Irvine went
down to Honduras as part of the expedition.
"I felt obliged to go help," said Giancarlo DiMassa, a
second-year UCLA medical student who participated. "Mostly we tried
to go to areas outside of Tegucigalpa, the capital city. (The
hurricane) destroyed a lot of infrastructure."
For one week, the delegation toured the towns and villages of
Honduras to help people that needed medical assistance.
"We took four by fours out and tried to go to communities that
hadn’t been served yet," DiMassa said.
The hurricane destroyed 75 percent of the infrastructure in
Honduras, and many lack access to medical care.
Honduras’ largest hospital has been crowded with people, and the
sanitary conditions have been so poor that doctors have cancelled
all but the most urgent surgeries.
"We saw a lot of acute need that was caused by the hurricane,"
DiMassa said.
He added the destruction caused by Mitch made it more difficult
to treat diseases.
"I was surprised by how badly (these diseases) were exacerbated
by the hurricane," he said.
Witness for Peace is planning to send a second delegation to
Honduras in January.
After forming just south of Jamaica on Oct. 22, Hurricane Mitch
erupted into a category five storm with sustained winds blowing at
155 mph and gusts estimated at more than 200 mph.
Mitch, the third deadliest storm on record, stalled over
Nicaragua and Honduras, causing floods, mudslides and various other
problems within these countries.
Today, the death toll is estimated at more than 9,000 people,
and the cost of rebuilding is an estimated $4 billion.
"Because of the immense flooding of the area, a lot of land
mines are surfacing," Perez said.
As far as getting people to participate in the relief effort,
"the response has been great," Perez said.
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