THE EARTHQUAKE AND THE COORDINADORA
by Karen Lehman

     As some of you may know, I was in El Salvador during the earthquake that took place on Saturday, January 13. We were 30 miles from the epicenter in one of the areas most affected, the rural communities surrounding the city of Usulatan. I am writing now to share some of my experience there and to request your support for the communities of El Salvador. 

     As it happened, we were in a meeting with the staff of the Coordinadora de las Comunidades del Bajo Lempa, a peasant-governed organization that emerged to prevent and respond to natural disasters. In the early 90s, more than 40,000 people in 86 communities organized through the Coordinadora to manage the annual flooding of the Lempa River. Their efforts were so important that during Hurricane Mitch, they were able to evacuate their communities without a single loss of life, whereas just to the north, in an area with similar population and landscape, 167 people died.  They have been recognized worldwide as one of the most effective grassroots disaster prevention and relief organizations in existence.

     The Coordinadora has used its experience to move beyond disaster prevention to development. They have parlayed the political power of their base into the election of mayors in two municipalities in Usulatan department.  The Coordinadora has developed a housing program and a sustainable agriculture program.  It has also built over 500 houses and have plans to establish 600 sustainable agroforestry farms by 2004. One of their greatest accomplishments is the creation of Local Zone of Peace, so necessary in a country recovering from war. They have taken on conflict management among the gangs born in the barrios of Los Angeles who have now established themselves in El Salvador.

     We were meeting in the Coordinadora´s new headquarters in Ciudad Romero when the earthquake struck. From the beginning, we knew that this was no gentle tremor. We immediately rushed for the doorways (the safest place to stand in a quake, FYI), but when the walls started to separate from the windows, most of us rushed outside. Had the quake been stronger, I am sure the building would have come down, but they held.

     The quake knocked out the  Coordinadora´s radio communication, so staff set off to gather information.

     The Coordinadora´s base in each community activated immediately. When we left Ciudad Romero, we saw the local committees already walking through their communities inventorying the damage.  In one community, the quake destroyed 90% of the houses.  Amazingly, no one died in that region because people were mostly outside.  By the next day, the Coordinadora had a full inventory of the damage to homes, dams, roads, levees, and other key infrastruture in its communities.

    A large wave swept over the peninsula where 7 organized communities participate in the Coordinadora, destroying an organic sesame crop drying in the fields.   The wave destroyed other crops as well.  I don´t know yet how extensive the agricultural damage is, and how this will affect the development of the sustainable farms.

     But we have some heartening news in the midst of heartbreak. Fortunately, the quake did not damage single one of the houses the Coordinadora had constructed, in comparison with the post-Mitch government housing that was badly affected.

     The people of this region have tremendous spirit and face huge challenges.  In Ciudad Romero, we were hosted by families in the village who spent ten years in exile in Panama and returned to El Salvador before the Peace Accords. Three years ago, they suffered Hurricane Mitch. Last year it flooded again. And this year, one of the 20 most powerful earthquakes of the century destroyed their houses and crops.

     Those of us involved in sustainable agriculture and local development know how the misuse of disaster funds can negatively impact sustainable development.  Food aid undermines local farmers, poorly used relief funds create dependence, and often rural areas are underserved in relation to urban areas.  Having lived in Mexico following the 1985 earthquake, I know what can happen when large amounts of international relief money begin to arrive.  Lots of folks tap into the pipeline, and often the rural communities receive a trickle, if they´re lucky.  In El Salvador, the Coordinadora played a role in exposing how members of the ARENA party siphoned off over a million dollars during the Hurricane Mitch reconstruction to use in electoral campaigns.  Their efforts have resulted in ARENA being forced to return the funds--some of its members now face criminal charges.

     I am writing to request your support for the important work the Coordinadora de las Comunidades del Bajo Lempa will undertake in the coming months. I am confident that they will use the funds well. 

     Funds for the Coordinadora may be channeled through the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency, an organization directed by Jose "Chencho" Alas, an El Salvadoran priest.  For further information, you can contact staff member Sean Hale at 512-388-7957.

     Your contribution, in any amount, is really important and will be directed to the people who need it most.

----Karen Lehman, January 18th, 2001