CIS Communities

Thank you to all who have donated so far, we are using the monetary donations to buy
food staples and send them to affected communities.  The pick-up just took off to Comasagua with some of the food staples.  They took 100 family food staples packets, each with 4 pounds of beans, 4 pounds of corn flower, 

2 pounds of rice, 2 pounds of sugar, and 1 pound of salt.  In addition for the shelter where over 500 people are staying we sent, 200 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of rice, 100 pounds of corn flower, 5 bags of coffee, 1 sack of women cloths, 1 sack of men’s cloths, and 1 sack of children’s cloths (going to Arcoiris, a community that the CIS helped resettle after the 2001 earthquake).  The road to get into Comasagua, as so many of the highways all over the country, is full of landslides.  They will Photo by Carl Malischke

meet up with the mayor’s office on the highway, and they will then take everything into Comasagua.

The community of San Luis Los Ranchos is still completely cut off.  There are two pregnant women who are very close to giving birth (one who is high risk).  Delmy, one of the CIS’s grassroots organizers, worked with community members for over 12 hours yesterday shoveling mud to try and clear a path to get the pregnant woman to the town.  Ten of the family kits are going to San Luis Los Ranchos.   The rest will be distributed by the mayor to the most needed areas.

On Friday, October 14, the President of El Salvador declared a national state of emergency due to rains that began 8 days ago and have relentlessly continued.  Tropical Storm N. 12 has left at least 7 people dead in El Salvador.  The rains are expected to continue at least another 48 hours.  Over 7,000 people have been evacuated and are living in temporary shelters in community centers and public schools.  Many homes are flooded, landslides have left communities isolated, bridges have gone out, road are blocked, and more devastating for the long term is that subsistence farmers have lost their bean crops which are the basic staple for many Salvadoran families.

In terms of the communities where CIS works 179 persons have been evacuated in Comasagua including families in the Community of Arcoiris-espana, Bellos Horizontes.  Tamanique has been badly affected and many families evacuated from their homes.  Families from the Island of Espiritu Santo and the Isla Tasajera have also been flooded and evacuated.  The entire country is affected by the situation.

CIS is collecting emergency donations for victims of the storm in coordinating distribution with existing local efforts organized by city hall, departmental government offices, or non-governmental community organizations.

We ask for your solidarity in financial contributions and\or material donations brought to our office on Monday at Avenida Bolivar #103, Colonia Libertad or tax deductible donations through our web page: www.cis-elsalvador.org or sent to LOS OLIVOS CIS- PO BOX 76 \ WESTMONT, IL 60559 or via credit card, earmarked ¨emergency aid¨.  If you are mailing a check, please send us an e-mail at:  Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla with the amount and we will front the funds to purchase supplies immediately.

The following items are needed:

Corn Flour

Rice

Beans

Sugar

Coffee

Clothing in good condition

Sheets and blankets in good condition

Thank you for your solidarity!

CIS and LOS OLIVOS CIS