by Allen Clinton, press officer
Pirrayita Island, El Salvador -- The epicenter of the earthquake that rocked El Salvador on January 13 was only about 22 miles from this small island on the Bay of Jiquilisco. While damage to structures on the island was limited, the toll on people's livelihoods has been catastrophic. The earthquake sent a shock wave through the bay, killing the fish people rely on for survival. Since the quake, people have gone out to fish, but have come back nearly empty-handed, unable to cover even the cost of gasoline to run their small boats. Fishermen will have to wait for the fish stocks to recover from the disaster. In the meantime, they cannot provide for themselves or their families.
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5-year-old Reinita Merlon and her family received a 5-day supply of food from CARE. All photos © CARE 2001.
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CARE distributed a five-day supply of food and cooking oil to more than 100 families on this isolated island, which is a 30-minute boat ride from Puerto Parada in the municipality of San Dionisio in Usulatán, one of the hardest hit areas of the country. This is the first time an international humanitarian organization has reached the area.
"We don't want to leave the island. This is our life. But we have no food right now. Thank God that food has arrived from CARE," says 17-year old resident Marta Elena Ayala. Ayala helps her mother take care of her five brothers and sisters. Their father no longer lives with them so the family fends for itself.
"At first sight, the island looks like paradise. It's a beautiful place, but people here are miserable because they have no food and no foreseeable way to feed themselves," says Allen Clinton, a press officer for CARE visiting the island. "They're also afraid of more aftershocks and they don't want to be out on the bay away from their families."
"More than 200 families live here," says Carlos Francisco Herrera, mayor of the town of San Dionisio. "Fishing is their lifeblood. Thanks to CARE's help, many families will be able to eat tonight." The mayor's office supplied CARE with the boats that made the delivery of aid possible.
CARE also distributed food to approximately 200 families on the island of Rancho Viejo on Sunday, another hard-to-reach area. So far, CARE has distributed food to more than 35,000 people throughout El Salvador.
