Belizean Volunteers Dig Through Rubble, Feed Thousands After Venezuela Earthquakes
They are on the ground, helping survivors, recovering victims from collapsed buildings, and distributing food to thousands of people whose lives have been upended.
Among the volunteers is Cayo resident Oscar Alexander Cisneros, who travelled with members of the Mennonite community from Centerville in western Belize. He says the group spent its first days there doing some of the hardest work imaginable, helping grieving families recover the bodies of loved ones trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
“We were here like three weeks ago, and we came back here. We stayed for a week now. The first three days we were helping people, or neighbours there, that were trying to get out the bodies of their relatives that died in this earthquake. So we were helping them, trying to dig them out, the bodies from the construction that was crushed down. We worked for three days, and then after that, the next three days we were buying food for the people, like rice and beans and vegetable oil and salt and noodles – things like that – to give away to the people that were asking for that. So we spoke to a couple of the people there, and yeah, they were asking that. So we actually fed more or less like four thousand people.”
“I actually work with this Mennonite community over there; I’m actually their driver. When this happened, they asked me, ‘Will you go with us if we go over there? It will be from our own expenses to go over there.’ Well, I told them, ‘If you decide to go, I will come with you guys.’ So they are the ones that started with this idea, that they wanted to come and help the people.”
Asked how residents in Venezuela have responded to the group’s presence, Cisneros says the reception has been warm and lasting.
“They were very nice. They were so happy that we could help them, and they have been very nice with us here. When we left this morning, they were asking us if we were going to come back again.”
The number of dead from Venezuela’s twin quakes in June rose to 6,301 on Monday, as rescue teams and family members continued to sift through the rubble in search of more victims.
Over 100 Dead After Two Earthquakes Hit Venezuela Seconds Apart