Humanity First Continues to Provide Aid to Peru Earthquake Victims

Silver Spring, MD, March 13, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Following the disastrous 8.0 earthquake which greatly disrupted the livelihood of southern Peru, Humanity First deployed a first responder team to many villages, eventually bringing much needed food and medicinal care to victims. More than half a year later, the region is still struck with poverty, and the shambles left in the wake of the earthquake remain untouched.

Last week, Humanity First USA deployed another team to the region, this time focusing on the need for shelter for those left homeless in rural areas. Working primarily in the rural outskirts of Guadalupe Village, where the majority of the population lives in adobe houses, the HF team witnessed firsthand the utter devastation and assessed the need for reconstruction and shelter. Humanity First was joined in their efforts by a group of students from the University of Virginia. Together, relief workers constructed twenty modular homes to accommodate families who had lost their homes in the aftermath of the earthquake. The 20’ x 12’ structures consist of three wooden sides, a corrugated rubber roof, cement base, two sliding windows, and a door. It is believed that these homes not only provide much more stability and have greater longevity than the canvas homes that were initially provided by other relief operations, but they are more much more hospitable in the current summer months of the region.

While the work of HF volunteers and University of Virginia students is commendable, the fact remains that of the fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants of the rural outskirts of Guadalupe village, only twenty families will be the benefactors of the shelters just recently built. “The need is there, and we only scraped the surface,” says Haji Noorudin, the leader of HF team deployed to the region.

As more means become available, Humanity First will continue to provide aid and support to the victims of the Peru earthquake.

Humanity First, USA (http://www.humanityfirst.org), a 501(c) 3- registered charity, is the US chapter of Humanity First International (http://www.humanityfirst.org.uk), which was established in the early 1990's to restore disaster-stricken and under-developed and vulnerable communities around the globe. Humanity First USA is a leading non-profit relief organization whose board of directors, management team, and project staff running the day-to-day operations are all unpaid volunteers with diverse professional backgrounds including business, healthcare, and education sectors. All personal expenses are met by the volunteers to maximize the use of funds raised and donated for those in need. As of today Humanity First USA has expanded to 19 countries worldwide.

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