Mexico Earthquake Update
October 17, 2017
This is the office of EPIC’s program partner in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Fundación don Sergio Méndez Arceo. EPIC has been raising funds to help Fundación Arceo while they give assistance to their neighbors. On October 17, they posted “Request for help for Fundación Don Sergio Méndez Arceo: The earthquake of 19 September seriously damaged our offices. So far it has been impossible to gain access into the building”.
EPIC is launching a campaign to raise $10,000 to help the Arceo Foundation recover its losses and to assist them as they help families in the heavily damaged communities where they work. Checks may be sent to EPIC or use Network for Good below.
September 22, 2017
EPIC has now been able to contact all of our project partners in Mexico.
1. La Buena Tierra school: New school building – no damage and all students are okay. Director, Lizzy Marroquin, and teachers are helping others worse off.
2. Fundación don Sergio Méndez Arceo: Their office building has been severely damaged, and they are not able to access their computers or files. Meanwhile, the staff are helping survivors in the worst damaged areas closer to the epicenter. The director of the new agricultural program Epic has just approved, suffered what he called “only material damages”.
3. Casa de los Amigos: The Casa had only minor damage. They will have a structural evaluation. They are providing shelter and emotional and physical assistance for persons in Mexico City with nowhere to go.
Fundación Arceo promotes and protects those at the forefront of human rights and the environment in Mexico. Their offices were so damaged by the earthquake that they cannot access their computers or files. Meanwhile, the staff is off helping survivors in the worst damaged areas closer to the epicenter.
La Buena Tierra was started in 1999 as a preschool for children of very poor families who were entering first grade with no preparation. Next, the mothers dreamed of a quality elementary school. The children had become excited about learning, but they became frustrated and lost interest in the poor, under-funded and overcrowded public elementary schools.
La Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City is a Quaker Center for peace and international understanding. It is a unique and harmonious combination of a nonprofit organization, a popular guesthouse, and a meeting space for social movements doing critical peace work in Mexico