July 5, 2020

In 2016, Ecuador experienced a devastating earthquake on the coast in Manabí. Friends of Ecuador helped support Ouida Chichester with whom we had worked before with a small donation from the Elmo Foundation and a modest contribution from FOE. It was a few thousand dollars to support the work of Fundación Simón Palacios Intriago

We belatedly got a report back on how the funds were spent. The longer document in Spanish is attached, which includes a number of photos. Support was directed to disabled populations in particular. Our support helped provide food, clothing, mattresses, medications, diapers, kitchen utensils and other supplies to displaced families. Some 200 kits of cleaning supplies and food kits were distributed. An additional 180 food rations were provided to disabled persons and families with scarce resources in the two months after the earthquake.

We encourage folks to read the full document and all the photos.

Support also helped with some home repair. Some 80 families with disabled family members were beneficiaries of support on home repair, with the community volunteering their time.

Additional efforts supported educational outreach on post-disaster response and future earthquake protection measures.