We continue to work on an ever-expanding portfolio of projects – schools, rubble, homes, and more! To date 415 volunteers from 29 countries have donated their time, enthusiasm and hard work to helping the people of Peru. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to:
News/Updates:
With Marc Young and Stefanie Chang in Bangladesh assessing the damage done by Cyclone Sidr, HODR Operations Director Bill Driscoll Jr and Volunteer Project Director Beca Howard have stepped in to keep Project Pisco going strong.
A Happy HODR Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with some late turkeys, homemade apple pies and the company of incredible volunteers. Thank You, Thank You to all of you who support Hands On through volunteering and donations! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hands On-”Manos en Acción” (as we are called in Spanish)-has been featured in several local newspapers here in Peru! Click here to read.
In appreciation of Project Pisco, Peruvian volunteer Martin gathered friends and 5 Peruvian bands to put on a concert for HODR volunteers this past Sunday. It was a festive day with incredible live music! Thank you Martin for throwing us such a special event!
Project Updates:
Ramadilla/Con Con
No more sieving sand! HODR volunteers completed their work on the water treatment system this past week!! Now, about 500 families in the communities of Ramadilla and ConCon once again have clean drinking water. Thank you to Jorge and his family for housing the many groups of HODR volunteers and to everyone who contributed to this project!
Rubble!
Although it’s almost four months after the earthquake, rubble clearing and demolition work has gained urgency. The government and NGOs are moving into the rebuilding and rehabilitation phase; loaders are no longer contracted to clear lots and streets, and relocation camps are closing down. Families without clear lots stand to lose out on assistance programs if they are unable to clear off their slabs.
After a month of sustained effort, we’ve wrapped up rubble work in Paracas and sent another rubble crew on tour to San Clemente, a rural district of Pisco. In addition to our mission of clearing sites so that families can return or rebuild, we cleared sites in anticipation of NGOs Un Techo Para Mi País and Cáritas building homes at these locations. Rubble work also continues in Pisco Playa and Pisco Pueblo (central Pisco).
Creating a home
Our partnership with Un Techo Para Mi País continues. In addition to joining Techo volunteers on their weekend builds, we’ve also started to help site materials during the week. The prefabricated floors, walls, and roofs are distributed to their recipient homeowners before the group builds take place. It takes a lot of material to build the dozens of houses that Techo assembles each weekend!
Along with the Salvation Army and Techo, Project Pisco is now also working with NGO Cáritas and Camino de Vida (a Peruvian church-based organization) to clear spaces for and build temporary houses. The homes feature wooden frames, walls made out of locally available estera (woven reed mats), plastic sheeting, and sheet roofing. We’ve worked with Cáritas to construct 15 houses in Pisco, 6 in San Andres and 3 so far in San Clemente. Volunteers have built another 40 homes in Pisco and Ica through our work with Camino.
School Projects
Pisco Playa Temporary Classroom
Local preschool ‘Mis Pequeños Angelitos’ asked our volunteers to help them build a new classroom with some materials they’d been given. The catch was that the materials were actually whatever could be salvaged from a large wooden shipping container bequeathed to the school. Our volunteers dismantled and sorted the wood, and then designed and constructed a solid classroom based on the footprint of the original building. Volunteers applied the finishing touches of a cheerful paint job and a flagpole, and turned the classroom back over to its appreciative teacher and children!
UNICEF Classrooms
Our Ica classrooms are complete! Our volunteers worked with community members to build and inspect over 70 classrooms. UNICEF is excited by the success of this project, and asked HODR to create a classroom building manual, make recommendations for structure maintenance (the classrooms will probably be in use for at least 6 months), and we are now beginning the second phase of the project, inspecting and repairing classrooms in Pisco and Chincha provinces. Special thanks to Connie, our host in Ica, who houses our satellite teams of volunteers.
Abe’s School
The construction of the Abraham Valdelomar School in San Andres is coming along strong! With a tutorial by bricklayer volunteers and local construction expert Carlos, HODR volunteers have laid brick, built walls, and continue to pour a seemingly infinite amount of cement!
Play time!
Volunteers go daily to 4 ludotecas (safe play spaces set up by UNICEF/CEDAPP) where they play with kids in the relocation camps offering fun and distraction from the stress of post-earthquake life in Pisco.
In another forum for play HODR volunteers helped with an event organized by UNICEF for children in Ica – more than 1,000 kids enjoyed lunch, clowns and a much-needed day of uninterrupted fun.
Bill Driscoll Jr.
Operations Director
Hands On Disaster Response
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