March 14th, 2010
Ben May - Owner Kayak Chile

Thanks to the extreme generosity of the friends and family of Kayak Chile and Cascade Raft and Kayak we managed to raise enough money for a second trip to provide aid to the victims of the recent earth quake in Chile.
After the success of our first trip to Tirua we took advise from the military and the Red Cross and decided to deliver this batch of aid to a smaller town closer to the epicenter which has been missed out by other aid groups as it is so small it is not on all the maps.
So with the funds raised over the last week we managed to buy enough food and life essentials for over 100 families of 6 to live for over 2 weeks, this consisted of one large bag of pasta, flour to make bread and other food products. They also had another bag containing life essentials such as soap, shampoo, bleach and other hygiene products to ensure everyone stayed clean and healthy. We were also able to give them a sack of clothes per family from donations here in Pucon.
Once we had bought all the food and collected all the clothes we were faced with the challenge of making the individual bags for each family, luckily that day David Hughes from the New River Academy had seen the photos from our previous trip and phoned to ask if there was anything there students could do to help. So on Friday 15 students spent the morning at the Red Cross in Pucon making up the ration bags for us to deliver the following day.
On arriving in Coliuma we found a much higher level of destruction than Tirua but a much smaller population so our aid managed to help every body in the town.
Our 4 wheel drive trucks made it possible to access all the camp high on the hills, which had previously been missed by other aid trips, as the camps were inaccessible by the large lorries, or semis that had brought previous aid.
We are trying to collect for a final trip to Lebu next Saturday so anybody thinking of making a donation please feel free to follow the link to the PayPal account.
Thanks again for all your support so far we have helped over 200 families and we have been able to see the true value of our work on the faces of the families we have personally given the aid to.
All money raised is spent on food hygiene products or fuel. No money is wasted on tax, administration costs or vehicle rental as we use our own vehicles and volunteers.
Ben May
Owner Kayak Chile

Cristian, Nico and their crew left Pucon at 4 am on Friday morning to make the long drive north to Constitucion. In Talca they stopped at the distributers' produce center to load up on fresh fruits and veggies to add to the drygoods that we picked up in Temuco on Thursday. With the trailer almost touching the pavement and the back of the truck sagging, they made their way to the coast.

Chile's infrastructure is getting many of the badly damaged and more densely populated areas back on track with regular supplies of food, fuel, shelter, and other necessities. However, the outlying areas and smaller villages at the ends of the delivery routes or on the far side
of damaged roads and bridges are receiving only enough staples to sustain the population. These are the areas where we are focusing our aid.

The scene that greeted the Pucon kayakers as they approached Constitucion was pure devastation. Many of the buildings of this zone were constructed of adobe and were unable to withstand the quake. The houses along the oceanfront made of wood survived the earthquake, but were swept hundreds of meters inland by the resulting tidal wave.

With military police to ensure order, they set up shop on the now-very- open land near the water. Crowds gathered and collected items they needed. While our goal was to provide several days of food for approximately 25 families, the fresh produce went much further than
expected. Proof that we sent what was needed came as people called friends and relatives to urge them to come for their share. The appearance of fresh foods in addition to the staples of rice, beans, and pastas caused a stir of excitement and hope. Members of the Constitucion Canoe Club assisted the Puconistas in ensuring an equal and far-reaching distribution. For several hours peppered with additional aftershocks they handed out donations of food, clothing,
and blankets.

Twenty-four hours later the crew returned to Pucon exhausted and emotionally wrung out. The heartbreaking loss and devastation was offset by the great appreciation of the people and reward of service. The strongest sentiment that they expressed to us was gratitude for the opportunity to help their countrymen in a time of need. Their pressing desire to help found an outlet in your generous donations and contributions and that has made a difference for them as well as the many people they reached in Constitucion. We hope to stage a similar mission this Thursday to reach Lebu if we can raise the funds.

We have added photos from this an other trips on our facebook page.

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Today I went on another Cascade Raft & Kayak Chile aid mission. With former Cascade guides and Chilean Canoe Federation kayakers Cristian Huenchuleo, Nico Navarro, and Philippe Pinaud, I went shopping! The goal was to put together care packages of basic necessities for families in Constitucion, a coastal town very close to the epicenter of the 8.8 earthquake of almost 2 weeks ago. To start with, I thought this would be no problem. When I arrived at "La Mayorista" and looked around the warehouse-like cavern, I began to feel differently.

The prospect of gathering the items we felt to be important in the quantity necessary was a daunting undertaking, but we gamely grabbed 5 Costco-sized carts and hit the aisles. We started with milk, sugar, salt, flour, coffee, tea, oil, rice, pastas and sauce, beans. That filled a couple of carts. We continued with kitchen and hygiene items--trash bags, dish soap, toilet paper, sponges, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. There was more than I can remember now; all of it items that people use on a daily basis without a second thought (until you don't have it).

The next stop was the Easy Homecenter. Here we filled another two carts with blankets and other bedding items, plastic plates, plastic glasses, silverware, and tarps for shelter. Meanwhile, in Vapariso the inaugaration of the new president of Chile, Sebastian Piñera was rocked by a 6.9 magnitude quake centered 2 hours south of Santiago. Minor tremors reached us in the south.

We returned to Pucon to organize and package. We were able to make 23 full boxes to be distributed to families with odd items left over to go to those with larger families or in greater need. Another daunting undertaking! The truck and trailer are packed and waiting for tomorrow's 4 am departure. In Temuco, the crew will load up on fresh fruits and veggies before heading north.

We are assisting in funding a second aid mission in conjunction with Kayak Chile (kayakchile.net) and the Pucon chapter of the Red Cross. Ben May, owner of Kayak Chile, hit the stores today to shop for necessities for 100 families in Coliumo, a seaside village north of Concepcion. Tomorrow the packaging will begin. The Red Cross volunteers, the students of New River Academy, and many others will create the family care packages for Ben to distribute on Saturday. He has volunteered his time and 2 trucks along with a cargo truck from the Municipality of Pucon to make the deliveries.

We are hoping to raise the funds for a similar mission next week to reach the people of Lebu. Thanks to everyone who has donated to make these deliveries possible. Your donations are going directly to the people who need help the most.
Anne Long

Wensday, March 10th, 2010

After the earthquake and tsunamis in Chile, a group of climbers and rafting guides from Pucon (Sergio Caniullen, Oscar Osses, Ruben Paillalef, Alejandro Gomez, and myself) decided to do something to help our country, focusing on the people who lost everything. We went with a van, car and a truck full of food for the most affected families. The greatest destruction in these areas was caused by a tsunami of approximately 20 meters in height.
When we reached the villages near the coast we could see some makeshift camps of people. We decided to divide our supplies among the families that we saw in the camps. We organized the supplies and began to distribute them, with criteria to give them only to people who were homeless and those who seemed most in need. Since there is no trade available, the families in this area are very humble families engaged in agriculture. Driving around the area helped over 30 families. There was not much we could give, but at least we could relieve their thirst and hunger and bring a little joy to children.
Seeing the makeshift camps of farmers made us feel the need of people. Some of them slept in sheds where they keep the hay for the animals, with families of 10 people. Some only had a metal roof resting on a tree or tent that sleeps 2 adults and 2 children, others had tents donated by friends or family, others only had a wooden roof, surrounded by nylon to keep out the water. Where there lived about 20 people, over half were children.
After splitting the last food we had decided to return to Pucón, with the feeling that if we organize ourselves but even we could give more help to people who need it, now more than ever. This is just a grain of sand that people can do and these were just 2 small towns that we visited. There are more than 600 kilometers of coastline affected by the tsunami and the need of people is immense.

This blog posting from one of our Chilean guides Nico.

Friday, March 5th 2010

One of the hardest parts of the rescue/rebuilding efforts in Chile is how hard communication is. The day after the earthquake Kenneth and I registered for the search and rescue team as EMT's at the local chapter of the police. We checked in every day but although help is needed there was no organization to direct the potential teams. After we had checked in with the police we met up with some local raft/mountain guides and started to brainstorm on what we could do to directly help. One of the guides had direct contact with a friend that was on the fire department in a town called Galvarino. According to his friend in Galvarino there was a series of small costal towns a few hours away that had been damaged by the tsunami and were still without power and water with food running short. We decided to mobilize ourselves in an effort to help. Through some networking, begging, borrowing, befriending with one of guides Nicos help we managed to raise roughly $2000 US. With this money we found every tent, sleeping bag and pad we could around our lodge and loaded it all up in the truck and van with a trailer and headed out.

Our first stop was the large town of Temuco to pick up food supplies, water, and gas. Although most of Temuco had minimal damage, large piles of rubble in the streets and on the sidewalk were the norm. A few hours of power-shopping in the chilean equivalent of Cosco we headed north to Galvarino.

We arrived in Galvarino and met up with the local fire chief where he directed us to the fire station. The information we had was that same day one of the fireman went out to this town and was one of the first responders. The town, Tirua, had fared ok from the earthquake but had major damage from the tsunami. They still had no power or water and supplies were almost gone. We found a direct route through the mountains that would only be passable by our truck and van. The fire department planned on driving up 2 water trucks but would have to take a much longer alternate route. We were able to stay in a local school that was still on summer vacation and got ready to leave at 6am the next day to head out.

The drive the next day winded through old forests and striking mountains. As we neared the town the first thing we noticed was all the camping. There were groups of families living in the hills above town, their homes had been destroyed by the tsunami. We would pass through these camping towns on the way out of every town up and down the coast. We picked up some of the "damnificatos" and gave them a ride into town to get food and water for their families.

As we arrived in the actual town at first the damage did not look that bad. But the more you drove down from the hill into town the worse it got. The tsunami had come up the river-mouth and done the most damage. As our caravan approached the local municipality (city hall) we saw the crowds. There was a growing crowd waiting outside of the gates in need. The military that was manning the front gate let us pass into the courtyard where we met up with one of the local organizers. He thanked us for our help and let us know about another town 20 minutes north that had less food and water then they did and needed the help more. We offered ourselves to help with the rebuilding effort but with no power or water there was not much yet to rebuild what they really needed was supplies.

Looking in to the crowd as we drove out of the gates to head north was heart breaking. Masses of people, families with small children, older people, this tragedy effected everyone. They were all just waiting. Waiting for water, waiting for power, waiting for food or water. There were abled bodied men from the town that had already done a great deal to clean up the town and that is what truly impresses me about the Chilean people. My brother Kenneth put it best I think;
"These guys just took in on the chin. Theses guys are not sitting around waiting for someone to rebuild it for them, they are out already with no secured means of food or water working every day to repair the town, the roads, and to rebuild the country. The Chilean people took an 8.8 earthquake but they are taking it standing."

We drove the few miles north to the next coastal town where the scene was the same. Families living in tents on the outskirts of town, no power or water, and destruction to the homes. We took all our food and water and took it to the organizing shelter in a local elementary school. We arrived as the same time as another large truck full of clothes and food. We unloaded all our food and clothes and tried to find something we could do to help but just like in Tirua there was very little to do yet other than get in the food, water and fuel.

We returned to the city center in Tirua to check in to see what other help we could offer. There was a small island offshore called Isla Mocha that they had no communications with. All the boats were either destroyed or were further north so there was no access to the island. They were working on getting a plane to try to drop off food and water. Kenneth and I decided that we would be best served coming back to Pucon to try to do some more fundraising to get another load of supplies, and our Chilean friends decided to stay the night in Tirua in case a plane was made available to go to the island.

My love and fascination with the country and people of Chile has only grown from this experience. In dire straights after a natural catastrophe they are still a proud upright people pushing on. The biggest need that we found down here is supplies. They need diapers, food, water all the things for daily life. If you can or are interested in donating please call Krista at our office. Sending the money here it will go directly to purchase these things for these wonderful people.