I need you to help to build some houses
On April 16th Ecuador had a devastating Earthquake. There are many stories of selfless and heroic acts, but Over 650 people died from this event.
Since then there have been several major aftershocks.
Thousands are homeless because they are afraid to stay in their homes, or their homes do not exist any longer.
Fundacion Doctor Oswaldo Loor wants to help some of these people
One of the reasons I am in Ecuador is the work of an amazing lady ( Yolanda) and the foundation she has built and runs. The foundation deals with several aspects of visual health but the part I have been doing photographic work for is the LUZ program…. helping people with severe Visual impairment.
In a developing country, blind people are at a major disadvantage, more so in the time of crisis. Blog post with images
In situations like we are in now, the disadvantaged will just rebuild with what they have, ready to be knocked down, by the next crisis. FDOLM wants to change this, at least for a small group of people. We want to build houses that won’t fall down, where the people can feel safe and secure.
The People we want to help
Aleska Cevallos Macías , 7 years old, suffering from cancer as well as a profound visual disability and lives with her maternal grandparents in Las Cumbres, a neighborhood in Manta. The structure, walls and slab of the house of his grandparents were very affected by the earthquake. The house rented by their parents was also greatly affected. We need to build a house for Aleska urgently because they are currently living in temporary plastic conditions at outside the home of relatives that was also destroyed.
Carlos Pihuave Reyes, 20 years old, has profound visual disability and lives with his parents and younger sister in the neighborhood Las Cumbres,Canton Jipijapa. The structure and walls of their house were affected by the earthquake, and the situation is made worse by the fact the house is located on a slope. We urgently need to build him a new home elsewhere because they continue to live there in spite of the risk to do so.
José Loor Bermello, 20 years old, has severe low vision and lives with his father, who has diabetes and a bowel disease, his mother, two brothers and a nephew in the Maria Auxiliadora neighborhood of the city of Manta. The walls of his house were seriously affected by the earthquake. We need to urgently build a house because in spite of the risk, they continue to live in their home.
Evelyn Buste Cedeño, 7 years old, has moderate low vision and lives with her parents and sister in the Miraflores neighborhood of Canton Bolivar. The earthquake affected the structure of their house leaving it uninhabitable.
Kléver Mantuano Mendoza , 38 years old, has profound visual disability and lives with his parents in the parish of Bachillero, canton Tosagua. The structure and walls of his house were affected by the earthquake. We need to build him a new home urgently because, even despite the risk, they continue to live at home.
Jose Mendoza Mantovano, 69 years old, has low vision and lives with his wife and son in La Elvira a Crucita parish of the canton Portoviejo. The structure and walls of his house were destroyed in the earthquake. We need to build him a new home urgently because they are living in an improvised shelter built with wood scraps left over from his house.
Milagros Cruz Zambrano, 9 years old, has profoundly low vision and lives with her parents and seven siblings in the neighborhood of El Astillero, Leonidas Plaza, Cantón Sucre. The structure and walls of her house were affected by the earthquake, so Milagros and her family can no longer live there. We need to build her a new house. At the moment, she and her large family are living in a tent located in the neighborhood park.
Loyda Mejía Zambrano, 8 years old, has profound visual disability and lives with her grandparents in Canton Flavio Alfaro. The structure and walls of the dwelling house were affected by the earthquake. The family is currently living in Casa Campesina in Canton Flavio Alfaro. We need to build her a new home urgently.
Keyner Celorio Vera, 7 years old, has low moderate vision and lives with his mother and grandmother at El Pueblito, Canton Rocafuerte. The structure, walls and floor of his house were affected by the earthquake, leaving it uninhabitable. Keyner needs a new house because he and his aunt are still living there in spite of the danger posed to them.
The houses
The houses are small and sturdy. They are designed for the climate and landscape, for ease of building and ease of care.
The foundation will be a floating concrete slab with a wire mesh. The supporting framing structure will be metal instead of the standard poured concrete.
Another failure point in Ecuadorian houses is the use of brick walls. In order to cut on cost the bricks are placed on their narrow side and they don’t have many or any connections to the concrete supports. The Resurgent houses are designed with metal connections every 4 rows and the construction is concrete block
The roofs are metal on metal frames. The roof line is constructed in such a way that airflow is enhanced.
Price of house costed out, complete ( electrical, sanitation etc ) $9,811.53
One of the problems with donating to causes is you are never sure if the funds will get to where they are supposed to go. With Yolanda and her group of people I have no doubt the money will be spent helping the people that need it. ( Full accounting records of this project will also be posted online.)
What can you do to help?
Like and share! The more people who hear about this the better chance we have of achieving our goal.
Spread the word I am not a good communicator so anything you can do to help spread the word through blogs, word of mouth whatever. We need to connect with people who have the resources to make this happen
Donate Outside of Ecuador you can send me funds through my paypal ( I will post an update accounting for these funds), inside Ecuador you can deposit directly in the bank account of FDOL. You can also send the funds directly to this account from outside Ecuador! We are setting up a gofundme, but the 8% in fees that are charged could be better spent on houses.
Link to Paypal donation record page
Thank you for reading and any help would be appreciated.
