International Medical Corps Teams Up With Local Organization to Help Children Affected by Peru Earthquake

PHOTO: REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil An earthquake survivor rebuilds his home.

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The 8.0 magnitude quake that struck the coast of Peru on August 15 killed over 500 people and left tens of thousands homeless. More than 70,000 houses were destroyed by the quake and several powerful aftershocks. As a result, many children aged five to 12 have been left without textbooks, notebooks, and other learning materials. Educational activities have restarted, but many children do not have the necessary study supplies.

International Medical Corps (IMC) has partnered with PREDES, a Peruvian non-profit based in the capital city of Lima, to provide basic school kits for hundreds of children and their families. These kits, funded by International Medical Corps, will each contain a backpack, pencil eraser, ruler, pens, pencils, and notebooks and will be distributed during the month of November. PREDES is working with children in San Benito, El Olivo, Villa San Pedra, El Carmen, and San Jose de los Molinos.

When the earthquake first struck, International Medical Corps immediately began looking for ways to assist those in need. As is the case with all of its emergency response programs, IMC makes a point to support local organizations like PREDES. In addition to leading an emotional recovery program for over 800 students, PREDES has donated temporary shelters, water tanks, and latrines.

PHOTO: IMC IMC and PREDES are providing school kits for hundreds of children impacted by the earthquake.

PREDES, like International Medical Corps, is a long established organization dedicated to emergency response and relief. Since 1983, PREDES has worked extensively to build local emergency response capabilities for the most vulnerable populations through training and preparedness development. Following the earthquake, PREDES was quick to respond and utilize existing partnerships for maximum effect. Its relief efforts to improve and rebuild water and sanitation infrastructure, while simultaneously helping families cope both emotionally and physically with the emergency, are efforts IMC strongly supports.

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Since its beginning in Afghanistan in 1984, International Medical Corps has earned its reputation as one of the world’s foremost providers of humanitarian aid because of its unparalleled ability to deliver relief quickly and effectively to victims of natural disaster, conflict, famine, and disease. In recent years, IMC has responded to man-made and natural disasters all over the world, including the 2004 tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the United States, and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, among many others.