Peru
Already more than four hundred people have been killed in yesterday's earthquake in Peru and three times as many as that injured. I sat through plenty of small earthquakes when I was living in Lima and I often thought about how I might react and what might happen when the big one occurred that they'd been predicting for ages. Well, it's happened now and although everyone's saying an even worse disaster has been averted, it really makes me think. The Indian Ocean tsunami killed fifty times more people, yet how do you quantify grief? Clearly in figures more people died in the tsunami, but to me because I have such a connection to Peru, this makes me incredibly sad. I am hoping and praying that all those I know are okay and haven't been too badly affected by the earthquake and haven't lost too much. I don't want to make myself sound like an idiot, but I felt I needed to write something.
posted by Peliroja at
8:48 pm
1 Comments:
Dear Han
This last post of yours is really lovely (and a million miles away from sounding 'idiotic') ... it's typically thoughtful and caring of you. Peru just can't cope with this and its upsetting to watch the news unfolding. The southern coastal towns are in a terrible state at the moment.
I went out with a friend from the British Embassy yesterday (she's just back from Pisco -- doing a 'sweep' of hotels & hospitals to check for UK citizens) and she told me it was indescribably bad.
No clean water, no food, rubble everywhere, and unclaimed bodies covered with sheets just left in the street. Let's hope that all the authorities and aid-agencies can pull together so the people get the help they need.
We had another fairly strong tremor today (but obviously nothing like Weds evening's quake) -- the news says to expect another week of minor tremors but I'm leaving for NYC on Weds to join Halcito. And, selfishly perhaps, I can't say I'm too sad to be getting out of Lima for a while. We're back in Peru at the end of September to pack up our things and say final 'goodbyes'
Very sad times in Peru ... and you know how wonderful a country it is and how it manages to work its way under your skin. Frustrating sometimes, polluted and dirty in the city, shockingly divided between rich/poor, but still, an incredibly beautiful country that really lacks cynicism and where, everyday, you're just impressed with how people get on with live and accept whatever's thrown at them.
And this latest 'event' seems so bitterly unfair because those worst affected had so little before and now are left with less than nothing ...
lots and lots of love to you, Jon and Azara
Lorna xxx
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