Mocoa, Colombia. On April 10 and 15, 2017, visits were made to Mocoa, the city that was devastated by the increase of the three rivers nearby. The emergency situation has been handled quite well by the institutions present at the site, including the Diocese of Mocoa-Sibundoy, headed by Bishop Luis Albeiro Maldonado, through social ministry. The New World Peace Builders Foundation, has made an action of solidarity from the outset.
In the visit that was made, in the company of the religious Sisters of the Presentation who are present in Pitalito, they found out that those who were affected were served well in their basic needs by the State and by the institutions in the place. The Foundation with resources from Proclade Spain, and the collection made in Ecuador provided the basic help. The intervention of the Foundation focused on the group of residents of the San Miguel neighborhood, about 300 people, located in the school of the village Villa Rosa. They also attended to a group of natives of the Kamentsa ethnicity. They were 12 families who lost everything, even their livelihoods and now are in a land of shelter in the village of Villa Nueva. Their main need is to resume economic activity so as not to depend entirely on humanitarian aid.
It is important to emphasize that the emergency is being attended in an organized and efficient manner, the assistance has reached all those in need, it has been sufficient for at least this first stage of the emergency. The diocese is organizing a food bank that will be the main reserve when aid begins to decline as normal, for this reason the intervention of Claretian Missionaries of the Province of Eastern Colombia – Ecuador through Fundación Nuevo Mundo, it will be in the medium term, during the months of May to July.
In common agreement with the state institutions, the group located in the school of Villa Rosa, will be transfered to the path El Pepino, via Pasto, the place is more secure and the shelter will be managed by the state relief institutions, Namely: Red Cross, ICBF, Risk Management Unit.
ONCE THE VISITS WERE CONCLUDED:
1. That the intervention to be carried out by Claretian Missionaries, through the New World Foundation, will focus on the two groups mentioned above, – the indigenous people and the residents of Barrio San Miguel, now in the path El Pepino.
2. That will be supported with food for the bank that is organizing the diocese, for the coming months, that the actions will be coordinated with the local Pastor, Father Julio César Roca and leaders Yair Montaño and Wilmer Sánchez.
3. That the ntervention with the indigenous community, which is 12 households, can be focused on reviving livelihoods, since these families lived in the populated center, and were dedicated to provide health services, such as sales of medicines, services of therapies and sales of hygiene products. Providing support to reactivate this household financially, generate a positive impact.
4. That the residents of the San Miguel neighborhood located in the village of El Pepino will be served with food and livelihoods, about 150 people, about 30 families, the assistance will basically consist of:
• school kits for children who will start their schooling
• Feeding in the coming weeks
• Provision of shelter and livelihood revival
In the two centers I already gave a first aid worth 2000 dollars, consisting of pots, plastic for shelter, protein, a system to chlorinate the water.
