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Keyner’s new Casa photos of the progress
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Casa Rebuild Progress
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Monday June 6th 2016
There was a meeting at Keyner’s house. This meeting involved Lawyers, Engineers, Suppliers, Builders members of FOLM and the family of Keyner. This was, I believe, the first time all of these people had been together in one place.
There were still some documents that had to be signed, some contracts to be approved, but it is moving forward.
The people involved in Keyner’s new house, Suppliers, builders, family, and FOLM.
Keyner is getting a NEW house!!!!
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.
Keyner Celorio Vera, 7 years old, has low moderate vision.
I first met Keyner at a park in Portoviejo. He was laughing on the teeter totters and enjoying himself as 7 year old boy do. He has low vision capabilities, so he wasn’t running around much.
The day in the park playing with other Children ( part of the work the Fundation Oswald Loor does ) was a great respite for him and his family. This is one of the goals of the FOLM luz program, to allow visually impaired people to meet with others who are like them.
Vision impaired children interacting at a FOLM event.
The next time I met him was when we visited his house. His family lives in the delta of the Portoviejo river ( Rio Portoviejo). This area is full of small rice fields, and other small farms. Most of the people who live in the delta do not have a lot of money. This is evident in the houses. Keyner’s house showed this… it was a small 2 room bamboo structure.
Keyner Celorio Vera, 7 years old, has low moderate vision
Then the earthquake.
I next visited him to help document the damage created by the quake. The small house was still standing but had visible shifted. He and his aunt are still living in the house.
Yesterday I learned that his family had been chosen to receive the first house in the proyecto resurgir/resurgence project. I will be documenting the building of his house so people can see where the funds are going….Now FOLM is going to build him a new house, a place he can feel safe.
I feel happy for him, but I also feel sad for the others that we can’t help rebuild their lives…
If you can help please donate.
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.
Power of black and white
Since the Earthquake I have pressed the shutter button on my camera more than 3590 times. I am not sure of my actual shot count because there are some where the exposure was off or the focus didn’t catch and those I tossed. Most of these images are just record shots, documenting conditions for the Resurgence Project.
Included in these images are a few that are interesting, from a photographic perspective.
Some of them work in colour… in this case the colour is one of the things that makes it interesting.
Some of them could go either way. This one, for example, has only one hue. I think it looks equally as dramatic in black and white as it does in colour. What do you think?
But other images get their power by processing them just into black and white images.
I have put together a gallery on my grs photography portfolio site B&W Faces of some of the faces that I captured. If you like black and white images please have a look.
We are still working hard to build some of these people new homes.
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.
PROYECTO RESURGIR / RESURGENCE PROJECT May 25, 2016
PROYECTO RESURGIR / RESURGENCE PROJECT
When I walked into the Fundacion Today, Yolanda was extremely excited.
We have enough money for, at least, one house ( there are deposits that are not reflected in the bank statement yet). People have promised enough for at least one more!
This is actually happening!!!!
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.
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.
bank statement May 23/ 24
Resourceful
Rebuilt wheelchair shows the resourcefulness of Ecuadorians
One of the things I like about Ecuador is the resourcefulness, of the people. This may come from having so little, so everything is reused when it can be.
A kitchen in the house of a visually impaired women. Her house was relatively undamaged in the Earthquake.
A kitchen in the house of a visually impaired women. Her house was relatively undamaged in the Earthquake
Food storage in a house in Ecuador
When you don’t have much, you use what you have.
A doll on a bed in a house in Ecuador.
I think is one of the things that makes me so sad when I see the houses of some of the visually impaired that the Fundation is trying to help. They had so little to begin with, and then to lose that to the earthquake.
A bed and other debris on the side of the road after the april 16 earthquake in Ecuador
In my photographing for the PROYECTO RESURGIR / RESURGENCE PROJECT( a project to help rebuild the houses, the lives, of some visually impaired people ( and their families)). I notice a lot of broken Induction cooktops. These were sold with subsidies from the government, to cut down on the use of gas. I don’t know how easy it will be to fix these.
A new Induction cooker damaged by the earthquake. The government had a program to help people to buy these to save gas, but many of them are now broken.
I am still looking for help for these people, please like and share so I can get the attention of the people who can help.
PROYECTO RESURGIR / RESURGENCE PROJECT
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.
The number 6
I have always liked the number 6. To me it was a nice gentle number, rounded edges, not too much but enough.
But two 6’s in 9 hours has changed my opinion.
The first 6 ( a 6.8 aftershock) arrived at 3 AM. I was sleeping soundly in my bed, to be awoken by the sound of dogs barking, and everything moving. By the time I really started thinking the shaking was tapering off. It took a long time to relax enough to get back to sleep.
The second 6 ( a 6.7) arrived at just before 12 noon.
I was in the main office of the Fundation in Portoviejo. I had been tasked with some website work, trying to get a grip on Drupal ( something I have avoided for years). I was working at a table in the corner while a meeting was just getting started in the centre of the room when the 6.7 aftershock started rolling in.
It started small and continued to build. The reactions of the lpeople in the meeting is what I found most telling. One made her way towards the door to move outside, another got on the floor to be protect herself under the desk, two others sat in their chairs waiting it out and one just broke down crying in shear terror. You can tell from their reactions they had done this before…. And they didn’t want to do it again.
After the shaking stopped water was offered to some, others made their way outside, and there were more tears. These were tears of frustration… enough already.
Outside in the courtyard, the workers of the Fundation ( mostly women) were frantically trying to contact family on their cells, while comforting other staff and patients. There were nurses checking the blood pressure of patients and some staff members. I assume the nurses know which staff has heart conditions that need to be monitored.
There were patients in pyjamas and eye patches, there were children running around or just standing screaming and crying, the ever present street dogs, and a lot of people panicked and frustrated. They knew they were safe, but what about their loved ones? Most people had cell phones to their heads or where alternating between dialing and listening, dialing and listening, dialing and listening, dialing and listening.
The cell phone networks were overloaded. No one could get through to family. ( about 15 minutes later I got a text from the network saying to use SMS and not voice during emergencies) Slowly you could see some people have quick conversations, put their phones away and relax a bit. Some broke down in tears of joy, and there were a few smiles.
It was a strange set of emotions I went through, fear, frustration, anger ( stop already!!) and a deep sense of loneliness. It took me a few minutes to understand the loneliness part, there was no one I really needed to contact to say I was OK. It didn’t matter to me if the cell network functioned.
The Fundation closed for the rest of the day, so after waiting about 1/2 an hour to see if I could to be of some use, I walked to the bus terminal. I turned down several offers of rides, because I needed to clear my head. All along the route people were in the street. People do not trust their houses.
So 6 you were once my friend, but I have had enough, I hope I never deal with you again ( or any larger number) and I will be happy with 3… 3 I can deal with.
Houses of Visually Impaired
A girl sits in front of her damaged house in Manabi.
Last monday I got a phone call from the lady who runs Fundcion Oswaldo Loor asking me if I could go and help document the state of repair of the houses of visually impaired people in Manabi.
I had my own issues I was dealing with, but, I try to never say no to this lady. She is always doing so much for others.
Over the course of 3 days we visited 20+ houses and took a look at the damage they had sustained.
As well as viewing the houses, we were also delivering food and water.
Very few houses where un-damaged.
Some Houses are no longer habitable.
The X on the wall means it is unsafe and will be pulled down.
Notice saying the building is unsafe.
Other Houses need walls repaired or replaced
Wall repairs needed after the April 16 Earthquake in Manabi Ecuador.
Some houses need to be reset onto their supports or foundations
House has shifted off of its supports during April 16 earthquake in Ecuador.
Support post shifted in April 16th earthquake in Ecuador
There is damage to floors and ceilings
Ceiling repairs needed after the April 16 Earthquake in Manabi Ecuador.
A new Induction cooker damaged by the earthquake. The government had a program to help people to buy these to save gas, but many of them are now broken.
The triangle means the house is repairable, if the family can afford it.
The part that made this assignment the most difficult one for me was the people. Most of these people do not have much, and then to lose what little they have is heartbreaking.
A worker from FOLM visits the house of a visually impaired person in Manabi
A worker delivers aid and visits a visually impaired person in Manabi.
Wall repairs needed after the April 16 Earthquake in Manabi Ecuador.
Father carries his blind daughter away from their damaged house in Manabi.
Blind girl lives in a camp in a park, because her house is not safe.
Wall repairs needed after the April 16 Earthquake in Manabi Ecuador.
Food supply for a family in a house in Manabi
People can not afford to replace things when they break, so they reuse and do what they can.
I am not sure where or how Yolanda will find the money help these people, but they are some of the many people who do need help.
Two words
My friend Gerri teaches some local children on Saturday.
The first class after the quake, they started to talk about the Earthquake and to learn English words about their experience.
The two most important words to these Ecuadorian children one week after the earthquake……
Sharing and solidarity.