November 16, 2007, Cont. from front page, Dispatch from Villahermosa, Tabasco

Cont. from front page,

Although President Felipe Calderón announced on November 5 that the level of the rivers was decreasing, hundreds of victims were still on their roofs asking for help. On November 11, the state secretary of Tabasco, Humberto Mayans, indicated that 1,099,000 people, 419 communities and 1,039 neighborhoods were affected.

“This is the worst catastrophe we have had 50 years,” said Andrés Garnier, governor of Tabasco. He compared the situation to that of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The neighboring state of Chiapas was also hard-hit. Torrential rains caused a mudslide that obstructed the course of the Grijalva River, unleashing a 50-meter wave that engulfed the rural community of Juan Grijalva. Houses, the school and the church were completely lost. At least 12 are dead, and many are missing.

San Miguel helps

From November 4 to 9, sanmiguelenses brought donations to collection centers set up around the city, and Civil Protection offered residential pick-up. However, according to Alan Álvarez, head of Civil Protection, and to Gerardo Peña, a Red Cross staff member, fewer donations were collected for Tabasco and Chiapas than were collected to aid Veracruz.

“The response of San Miguel to support Tabasco has been running a bit slowly,” said Álvarez. “Two years ago, when we went to Veracruz, we took approximately 40 tons of supplies. Now, after five days of collecting donations, we only have 15 tons. We have to consider that there are one million people affected and the situation will continue for at least two months. Yesterday, the national media announced that the water level had decreased, but the truth is that it has only decreased five centimeters. There are communities where help must arrive by boat, or has not arrived at all.

“We decided to take the supplies personally. Six staff members of the Red Cross and Civil Protection, Gerardo Peña, Omar Rangel, Isaac Salazar, Alejandro Rayas, Francisco Barraza and Juan Ramírez, were selected to go, and we will also help however we can.”

He added that the collections will not continue since it costs around 17,000 pesos to go to Tabasco and Chiapas and it would be difficult to return.”

Álvarez believes that this decrease in donations stems from a false rumor that no more supplies were needed and that the supplies would remain in a warehouse. “This is not true. We are personally traveling to Tabasco to make sure the supplies are distributed to the flood victims. After the collection by Red Cross and Civil Protection ends, people can continue supporting Tabasco and Chiapas by depositing money into the accounts specially created by the different banks for the Tabasco cause and by the Red Cross.”

The support continues

However, San Miguel continues its support of Tabasco. On November 18, an art auction to benefit Tabasco flood victims will take place in the Biblioteca Pública courtyard beginning at 5pm. Works by more than 40 renowned local artists will be displayed and bids can be made until 6pm, when the auction begins. The event is supervised by curator Margaret Failoni and organized by gallery owner Carmen Gutiérrez. Snacks and a free cocktail will welcome guests, and a cash bar will be available. A raffle is also scheduled, and tickets are good for a free movie and coffee at the Teatro Santa Ana. A special benefit screening of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth will take place on Saturday, November 17, at noon in the Teatro Santa Ana.

A group of four amateur female impersonators, headed by Roberto Hernández, manager of La Casa de las Artesanías de Michoacán and a professional dancer, will perform a benefit show for Tabasco on Friday, November 16, at La Zarihueya bar, Mesones 97. The show will include imitations of several Mexican artists such as Selena, Mariana Soanne, Ninel Conde and Amanda Miguel and Spanish singer Rocío Dúrcal. The show begins at midnight, but the bar doors open at 8:30pm. The entry donation of 30 pesos will be collected by Civil Protection staff.

Assistance from the national government

On November 5, President Calderón announced the creation of the Fondo Tabasco (Tabasco Fund), with US$18.5 million (El Finaciero, November 5). On November 9, during a tour of Tabasco, he announced that he would designate 1 billion pesos for the reconstruction of Chiapas and Tabasco (La Jornada, November 10). He also announced the creation of a program so that flood victims can repair their homes or purchase new ones.

International support for Tabasco and Chiapas

The United States and Japan are two of the foreign countries that have pledged aid to Tabasco and Chiapas.

The Japanese news agency Kyodo announced that Japan will send 14 million yen (US$126,000) to support Tabasco. The Japanese will also send 110 tents, blankets, water purifiers and electricity generators.

The United States, through the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), will provide US$120,000 in material support to relief efforts. “This money will provide 2,000 cots and 95 water pumps to help people clear their homes and businesses,” said Ambassador Antonio O. Garza. These funds are in addition to the US$250,000 provided by the American people to the Mexican Red Cross and US$50,000 to the Mexican authorities to provide temporary shelters for flood victims.

Bank accounts for Tabasco donations

Mexican Red Cross IAP

BBVA-Bancomer
0401010115 Suc. 0683 DF Palma
Clave interbancaria: 0121 80004010101159

Banamex
Fomento Social Banamex
Cuenta: 120, sucursal 100

BBVA-Bancomer
Fundación BBVA Bancomer 04 Apóyame 3
Cuenta: 0427692633

Banorte
Fundación Banorte
Cuenta: 0000000027
Clave Interbancaria 072-790 000000000270

Santander
Cuenta: Apoyo a Tabasco

Scotiabank
Cuenta: 00100911240

HSBC
Fundación Merced
Cuenta: 4025940156

Dispatch from Villahermosa, Tabasco

Cheryl Nemazie, freelance photojournalist, left San Miguel de Allende last week to support the relief effort currently under way in Tabasco and Chiapas. Below are some words and images from her trip.

Relief for Villahermosa is well under way. Three lines begin forming each morning at 3am. One for the elderly, one for pregnant women and women with small children and a third for everyone else.

People receiving aid at noon said they had been standing in line since 5am. The lines wend their way in and out for city blocks. Still over a half mile long at 8pm. Aid is often given out until midnight or 1am.

The Governor of Tabasco has turned over his residence for the delivery and distribution set up of aid. Mounds of clothes, aisles of food, stretch throughout the manicured gardens. Peacocks wander in and out of rows of cases of water. An army of civilians have volunteered to sort, organize, and stuff bags of clothes, boxes of food for distribution at the entrance. A health clinic as been set up just inside the gates. It is up to the military guards to decide if someone can be seen.

Despite the abundance of aid, there is so much to be done. Many people stand in line without ever getting to the aid. They come back again and try the next day. Businesses have been completely washed away, so unemployment will be an ongoing problem.

Donations of cash to organizations such as the Cruz Roja is the most effective way to give aid at the moment. The majority of the population who have lost their homes have no insurance and will be relying on social agencies to help them restart their lives.

Cheryl Nemazie has been a freelance photographer for several years, focusing on NGOs. She recently completed projects in Uganda, Madagascar and Ukraine. It is her hope that the images she captures can bring a brighter future to theseE fragile environments. Her work is on view at cherylnemazie.com.