Over the weekend Nina and a friend visited the Fuego disaster zone, where the remains of the village of San Miguel Los Lotes are located. As you would expect, Nina said it was a very intense experience. The photos below speak for themselves. Small clusters of people were scattered across the scorched landscape of the buried village. Shovels in hand, they continue digging in search of their lost family members. Nina reports: “Seeing these people digging in that hard and, in some places, still steaming soil urged for a different solution: finding more machines to help them.” Vamos Adelante coordinated plans with an engineer to contract a few machines to assist with the laborious excavating. However, shortly thereafter an official announcement was posted stating that all search efforts are officially finished due to the inhabitable and high risk nature of the disaster zone. Despite this, the intense work cleaning up the big highway alongside the village continues, which is a bit difficult to understand, especially for those whose relatives are buried. These families will need official permits to bring machinery in to help them. If they are able to obtain these from the authorities, Vamos Adelante will be ready to help get equipment right away.
In the meantime, the families in Ceylan continue receiving a daily meal from World Central Kitchen (~1,000 per day). The rain also continues to fall. Vamos Adelante promoters, Maide and Rocio, who permanently moved out of their homes in El Rodeo, are struggling to find houses to rent but continue their search this week. The support you have offered is very much appreciated by those who call the foot of Fuego “home”.
Vamos Adelante 