Volunteers Will Build Homes for El Salvador Quake Victims

United Methodist volunteer teams will build 300 homes for victims of last winter's earthquakes in El Salvador.

A project of United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the work will take place in the neighborhoods of Ichanmichen, El Espino, Tacuba, Tepetitan and Santo Domingo.

A major earthquake struck El Salvador on January 13, 2001 followed by a second on February 13. In addition to more than 1,000 deaths and thousands of injuries, the quakes damaged 315,000 houses, affecting more than a million people.

The teams will construct the 450-square-foot block homes for widows, single mothers and the elderly "who cannot rebuild themselves," said Jeanie Blankenbaker, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The denomination also will support the rebuilding of another 200 homes by residents through the "food for work" program of Action By Churches Together (ACT).

"We're working with the poorest of the poor, the people the government is not helping," Blankenbaker added.

Florrie Snow, a United Church of Canada missionary, will be in El Salvador June 10 through August to help with the scheduling and hosting of the volunteer teams. "She has many years of experience bringing UMVIM teams into Chile," Blankenbaker said.

Snow will assist Karen Mayorga, of the Methodist Church of El Salvador. Marino Chacon, a local contractor, has been hired by the church to oversee construction. Maria Lopez, disaster response coordinator for the Methodist Church in Puerto Rico, has served as a liaison between ACT and the local church.

An emerging autonomous denomination, the Methodist Church of El Salvador, led by the Rev. Juan Mayorga, currently has seven congregations. Besides the relief efforts, the Board of Global Ministries staff has worked with the church in developing plans for ministry, program strategies and leadership training.

Although a few teams will visit the country this summer, Blankenbaker expects the heaviest scheduling to be in the fall. Each team, limited to 12 people, is being asked to contribute $3,000 for the cost of materials for one home.

More than 85 teams already have expressed interest in the El Salvador project, according to Blankenbaker. Interested groups can continue to call the Volunteer Hotline at (800) 918-3100 to register teams and receive information packets.

Please give to UMCOR Advance #511447 and designate "El Salvador Earthquake" on the memo line of your check. Give through your local United Methodist church or mail contributions to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Call 1-800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation. One hundred percent of your gift goes to relief efforts in El Salvador. United Methodists' generous giving to the One Great Hour of Sharing, part of their ongoing contribution to mission around the world, supplements the cost of Advance gifts.

June 4, 2001

More Information

• El Salvador Earthquake: UMCOR's Response
• El Salvador Earthquake Photo Library
• El Salvador Earthquake: UMVIM's Response (volunteers)