By Melisa Lindros | Executive Director
Report: Ecuador Earthquake Relief Funding May 3, 2016
Our team of Fuel Relief Fund Volunteer First Responders was on the ground distributing fuel in Ecuador on Thursday, April 21. We deployed to Ecuador based on our assessment of the scale of humanitarian need, and our aim to make a solid, rapid contribution to help relieve the suffering of the people of Ecuador. We are extremely grateful for the timely support of our donors and GlobalGiving that allowed us to do that, because in just over a week, we have reached thousands of families in need with fuel relief!
After meetings with local officials, local communities, the United Nations, and other key humanitarian agencies on the ground, by Saturday we identified that immediate household needs for fuel were to ensure safe water and capacity to cook for families in affected remote areas.
Ecuadorians rely routinely on propane tanks to cook, with refills delivered regularly by state subsidized gas trucks that roam all parts of the countryside. The earthquake has destroyed the delivery infrastructure and transportation system, however, and deliveries are not being made. Furthermore, water sanitation systems are in disrepair and will be for some time. Families can heat local well and other water sources with propane gas as well while water treatment plants are repaired.
As always, our response is a collective effort led by Fuel Relief Fund with active engagement of local communities and the local administration. The affected community has local knowledge and many valuable capacities to contribute to relief and recovery efforts. In Manta, a group of volunteers including youth from heavily-affected areas joined us to assist our First Response team with logistics. We worked with a local translator and the volunteers to identify the closest sources of propane and a viable transportation route, and we commenced distribution. Along the way, the Mayor of Manta was so passionately in support of our mission, that he loaned us two vehicles for transportation complete with our logo displayed in the windows. With the generous support of GlobalGiving donors, we have been able to purchase fuel and tanks for those families that need them and complete 6,000 10-gallon tank distributions in only a week to Manta and neighboring communities - that are not receiving deliveries. With an average household size of four, that fuel is supporting up to 24,000 Ecuadorians in need!
Because we rely on volunteer support and in-kind gifts for the majority of costs, we have accomplished all of this relief with only $24,000. That means that each dollar we raise is providing fuel for a victim – more than half of which are children – to eat, drink safely, and bathe in warm water. We are proud of this accomplishment.
Our goal now is to raise an additional $20,000 – with which we can serve another 20,000 people, providing temporary relief necessary for these families while the local governments work to rebuild roads and infrastructure.
Thank you for giving generously and for your support of Fuel Relief Fund's Ecuador Earthquake response!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
