Help for Chile

Help for Chile

In the all-encompassing vortex that enveloped us during the 17 days that the Winter Olympic Games were on in Vancouver, it was generally understood that while life went on, it just had to take a back seat to the wonderful celebration of community, friendship and athleticism happening on Canada's west coast. So in that context, it is understandable why, as people emerge from their self-inflicted delirium of the Olympics, they are a little slow in realizing that the world did continue to revolve and humanity faces yet another massive tragedy of the scope still being dealt with in Haiti.

Chile, for those not aware, is a country that occupies the western part of the southern half of South America. It is bordered to the east by the rugged Andes mountains and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. In between, there is plenty of lush forest and some of the most striking scenery in the world.

Last weekend, just as the Olympic Games were climbing to their apex, a devastating earthquake that registered 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Chile (Haiti was 7.0 by comparison).As of this writing, there are approximately 800 people confirmed dead, but it is feared there will be thousands more in the mountain villages where most residents lived in adobe dwellings, simple mud huts that would have been vaporized by an earthquake of that magnitude. Because these settlements are so remote, there has not been an accurate estimate of casualties from this natural disaster, but you can be sure it will be every bit as calamitous as the Haiti quake that is estimated to have taken close to 200,000 lives.

More about help for Chile here.