NEW YORK, New York — June 16, 2005 — United Methodist mission personnel and volunteers in the northern Chilean area struck by an earthquake on June 13 are safe, as are staff and students at Methodist schools, but the homes of many poor people were destroyed and several of the school buildings were heavily damaged.

The tremor, measured at 7.9 on the Richter scale, hit at around dinnertime. The epicenter was between the pueblo of Pachica and the town of Colchane on the border with Bolivia. Eleven persons were reported killed and 150 injured, according to news reports. The affected region of the Andes is noted for copper mining and high incidence of poverty among the Aymara people.

Missionary John Elmore, based in Iquique, said that the coastal city of 250,000 felt the quake and lost power and water service for a time. The damage was much worse inland, including the site of a church-related Agricultural School, known as Kusayapu. Church schools in Alto Hospicio and Iquique sustained damage.

Becky Harrell, an Individual Volunteer in Mission, also based in Iquique, reported that all of the students, teachers, and staff of Kusayapu were accounted for and being evacuated out of Canyon Tarapaca. Damage reports were preliminary but it appeared that a computer classroom may have been totally destroyed.

"We are remembering in prayer those injured and the families of those killed," said the Rev. Edith Gleaves, head of the Mission Personnel unit of the General Board of Global Ministries, the international mission agency of The United Methodist Church. "We are thankful that our colleagues, the Chilean pastors, and everyone at the schools are safe."

Board personnel and volunteers in Chile work in partnership with the Methodist Church of Chile, an autonomous denomination of some 15,000 members. Other United Methodist personnel in Chile are not in the area struck on June 13. Missionaries Shana Harrison and Juan de Dios Jara and Nydia Irizarry-Jara serve farther south.

Ms. Harrell and Mr. Elmore reported to the mission agency in a series of e-mails. They indicated that pastors of the Chilean church were on the way to the affected area with water and supplies, especially to Huara, site of some of the deaths. Inspections of local church buildings were being made on June 16.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is assessing ways in which it may be of help.

Missionary Elmore is a carpenter by profession. He works with building projects in the area and coordinates United Methodist Volunteers in Mission teams who come to engage in construction ministries. He said that many homes in the hardest hit area are built of adobe brick, made of straw and mud. "The people lived in their adobe houses, and now their belongings have been covered by the houses. I am sure that the government will help some ... and we will try to help these people."

Ms. Harrel is volunteer coordinator of Methodist Extension of Andean Youth (Extensìon Methodista Al Nino Andiño), which was set up in 1988 in response to massive migration of Aymara people into the cities of northern Chile, causing expansion of what is known in Chile as "belts of poverty."

The ministry provides technical education and training in agriculture. It also tackles such issues as drug addiction, alcoholism, and prostitution. The Kusayapu is one of its primarily facilities.

Ms. Harrell noted that a United Methodist volunteer team from Ingleside, Texas, was expected on June 20 and might be able to help clean up some of the wreckage.

As an Individual Volunteer in Mission, Ms. Harrell is assigned by the General Board of Global Ministries but is not compensated. Mr. Elmore was an Individual Volunteer before becoming missionary.

	See Also... Topic: Emergencies |  GBGM news |  Missionaries |  Natural disasters |  Poverty |  UMCOR |  Water |  Mission updates |  Geographic Region: Chile |  Source: GBGM Press Releases
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Date posted: Jun 16, 2005