As you know, we are in a country that experienced a national disaster. Lucky for us, we were too far south to notice much, but the story is different for many Chileans. In Santiago alone, over 600 people have been displaced. Imagine losing your home, wondering about the location of loved ones, and on top of that, having nothing to wear or eat. We all want to do what we can to contribute to disaster relief; we discussed taking the entire school north to help out with some serious projects, such as rubble removal. But after careful consideration, due to continuing aftershocks and travel conditions from road damage, staff decided that it would be unwise to bring our students directly into a disaster zone. So this is what we did instead!
On our first day back in Pucon, we all headed into town, to the local Red Cross, to assemble care packages for the victims of the earthquake. We put together boxes stuffed with clothes and bags bursting with food to be shipped up north. We were given giant sacks of random clothing and divided the clothes into individual outfits to be bagged and distributed. It was actually fun to sift through the clothing, some of it outdated and outrageous, and piece together whole ensembles. It was a lovely group activity that further helped us acknowledge how grateful we are that the earthquake did not affect us personally. I am thrilled that we managed to give back even just a tiny bit to a country that has given us so much.
Tomorrow is our last day of school!!! Time has whipped past us… we will all be seeing you soon!
Callie
Alex Anderson wonders if this is donation-appropriate
