Peru homeless crisis draws local aid efforts

A Folsom Rotarian saw the walls start to shake in Ica, Peru Aug. 15, endured a terrifying three minutes of tremors and soon realized he would not share in coming months of misery to be suffered by thousands from losing their homes to the quake.After learning homelessness would be rampant, Marty Listberger turned a vacation into a work soujourn.Ica, pop. 200,000, is 70 miles from the epicenter of the 7.9 Richter earthquake that killed hundreds of Peruvians. Homes of adobe built on sand were customary there. Only one house in five survived the quake.Listberger decided to commit the rest of his vacation to helping. He had the experience to do so, from his work with the Shelter Our World non-profit, which works to ease housing crises in Central and South American countries. Women employees of the onion plant Listberger was visiting were distraught. "I was trying to comfort people, but the women knew the adobe homes were falling down, with their children inside," Listberger said. "Peru relies almost exclusively on public transportation. Drivers of buses and taxis quickly put their attention toward their own families, so some onion workers walked four hours home before they could check on their families."Listberger quickly learned that government relief efforts would have to begin with large public structures, and only in the distant future get to rebuilding of homes. With bridges out between Ica and capital city Lima, even if the government had intended to mount a home-relief campaign, it could not have done so."Shelter Our World president Bill Hargett and I made contact with the owner of a hostel near Guadalupe village," Listberger said. "We were able to negotiate a rated to relocate families. But for the majority, they moved into the streets in front of their homes. This is now their reality."Although no wide home relief is due for perhaps years to come, citizens have shown resilience in adapting at least temporarily, Listberger said."There has developed a new definition of community," he said. "People have established kitchens, cucinas, where on one day a person takes responsibility for cooking for everybody on their street. But, Bill and I feel like the lone voices crying for long-term help. The government has been pretty good on short-term, moving the dead, minimizing risk of social disease, but the last thing will be aid for the family unit."Around 200,000 Peruvians were made homeless by the earthquake.Since return to Folsom, Listberger has been organizing quake relief efforts in northern California."I've been speaking at Rotary clubs in the region," Listberger said. "Clubs are defining projects and applying for grants. We are trying to figure how to leverage our financial resources, at local, district and international levels. We're going to create opportunities for Rotarians to go to Peru and participate in hands-on projects.Listberger and Hargett hooked up with an Ica Rotarian, Julio Delgado.Folsom-area residents including Pastor Jeff Kreizer of Lakeside Church and Folsom High School student Emily Caruso will travel to raise the initial new home coming from relief efforts."It will be built between Nov. 2 and Nov. 10," Listberger said. "Then, Lakeside will commit five teams over five months. Quakes are going to happen again, and adobe will fall, so we will build with Fibrablock, with stick frames and concrete foundations."The Telegraph's Roger Phelps can be reached at rogerp@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at folsomtelegraph.com