From thousands of miles away, close to $900 will be deposited with the Chilean Red Cross from a fundraiser held at D’Antigua, a bar and restaurant, and haven for the local Latin rock scene.
“We did this because a lot of the bands have members who are Chilean,” said Elias “Zack” Valladarez, the sound engineer at the Jackson Heights venue, located on 84th Street and Northern Boulevard – where 15 bands performed and raised a total of $888 on Sunday, March 7. “This is the second fundraiser we [did]. We did one for Haiti too.”
This event and several others held around the New York metropolitan area in recent weeks aimed to show solidarity with Chile, almost a month after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked millions out of bed – and the tsunami swept boats onto and homes off of the very same land.
On Thursday, March 18, the recently-inaugurated President of Chile, Sebastian Piñera, in his first speech to the nation, called on Chileans not to feel defeated by the tragedy.
“To the contrary, in times of adversity the real nature and the real nobility of a people is measured,” said Piñera, whose inauguration on Thursday, March 11 was interrupted by two successive earthquakes – a 6.6 and a 6.9 magnitude temblor. “And Chile is a nation with courage and a noble soul.”
According to the Chilean Ministry of the Interior, as of Monday, March 22, a total of 342 have been confirmed dead – a dramatic decrease in number from the previous high figure of 805 announced on March 2. The director of the National Emergency Office within the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI) said that some municipalities had incorrectly included the number of people missing and not confirmed dead.
Piñera said figures now put the number of missing at about 100 and about 800,000 directly affected by the quake. According ONEMI, 1.5 million Chileans have been displaced and shelter has now become an issue, with over 200,000 homes lost.
“We are finding shelter. We have sent a significant number of tents, almost 5,000 tents for six or eight people that in total will house 30,000” Perez Yoma said. “Even then, a few weeks will pass until we are able to meet all of the major necessities.”
With these necessities in mind and more than 172 aftershocks since February 27, the people and government of Chile have shifted their focus towards rebuilding the devastated areas.
At first, former-President Michelle Bachelet – whose term ended at midnight on March 10 – had told her contemporaries on the international stage not to send help. However, after damage to telecommunications and infrastructure became apparent, Bachelet requested the help. ONEMI declared that the United States had provided 25 satellite telephones, while neighboring countries like Argentina and Peru provided medical and engineering assistance.
“Money is not scarce,” said Perez Yoma. “What is scarce is the amount of necessary machinery.”
The government dispatched mobile hospitals, portable water trucks, gas tanks, and at least 10,000 members of the armed forces as well as aerial support to the disaster zones. The grim task of identifying bodies in the coastal areas hit by the post earthquake tsunami fell to forensic officials who identified 76 in Constitucion and 68 in Concepcion, closer to the offshore epicenter.
The earthquake also dealt a blow to Chile’s economy, which Piñera estimated will cost $30 billion dollars, 17 percent of the country’s gross national product.
For those who plan to donate money, most relief efforts have been coordinated through the Chilean Red Cross, which set up an account at Banco Estado under the name of Cruz Roja Chilena account number 362883, routing number 70-512-100-1.
Locally, the Consul of Chile in New York also recommends donating to the Chile Earthquake Relief Fund at the Bank of America account 226000255231, routing number 026-009-593.
Another of the organizers of the D’Antigua Chile fundraiser, Adrian Lema, explained that they had only a few days to plan the Solidaridad con Chile – an “instant initiative” – that at the end of the day proved something else.
“Will power is the greater than we think,” he said. “We only had four days to plan something, but we did it.”
