May 28, 2009 earthquake update -
students are safe and unharmed
On May 28 at 2.25am
local time an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude occurred off the northern
coast of Honduras, about 80 miles from La Ceiba, where Drew students
are staying as they volunteer at Helping Honduras Kids (HHK) in nearby
Agua Caliente. A second quake measuring 4.8 followed 42 minutes later
slightly west of the first, and several smaller quakes (4.5, 4.6) have
been reported at other points on the same fault line since then (see
the U.S.
Government Geological Survey website for information about the
quakes, and maps).
The quakes occurred about 6 miles below the ocean floor, and a tsunami
watch was announced after the first quake, but no high waves were
reported and there are no
alerts posted at this time. There are some power outages and email is
down in many areas, but cell phone signals are working and the
group chaperone, Andre Moore, reports that there is no damage in La
Ceiba and the roads are fine. There is an alternate route to San Pedro
Sula to avoid the damaged bridge, so the group will continue the trip
as planned. (See the
L.A. Times for news coverage.)
[Last updated 9:56 am,
May 29th]
For a summary
of the action taken by Drew see
http://www.groups.drew.edu/honduras/earthquake.html
Anyone
with questions or concerns should contact Sandra Jamieson at
908-642-2224.
Drew Honduras Project:
The
Drew Honduras Project is a
totally student-run volunteer program. The Honduras
Project is run by student board members and advised by a
faculty member, Professor Sandra Jamieson. The
students make the plans, raise the money, arrange
the work schedules, select the participants, raise all the money (did I
mention that?), organize
the pre-trip meetings, lead the reflection sessions on the trip, and
generally run around a lot! In the process they refine their leadership
and interpersonal skills, organizational strategies, understanding of
budgeting, and fundraising methods. They apply skills and knowledge
they have learned in teh classroom andalso learn a lot about
Honduras--and about themselves.
Where
is Honduras exactly, and where do you go?
Honduras
is in Central America, snuggled between Guatemala to the West, El
Slavador to the south, and Nicaragua to the East. It has a northern
coast on the Caribbean and a small southern coast on the Pacific
in the Gulf of Fonseca (check out Googel
Earth to see the exact location). We visit Tegucigalpa,
the capital city, toward the center of the country; San
Pedro Sula, the main commercial city, in the north west; Agua
Caliente, just east of La Ceiba,
which is further east along the coast from San Pedro Sula; and Copán
Ruinas, the site of the Mayan city. We also spend time between Agua
Blanca and Talanga,
an hour north of Tegicgalpa and Amerateca, abotu an hour west of Teguc.
Explore the photographs and descriptions on this site to learn more, or
send an email to the board.
How
can I join the Drew Honduras Project?
We
select participants early in the Fall semester so that they can spend
the year fundraising and preparing for the trip the following May. Look
for us at the Activities Fair the first week of school, watch email for
the invitation to apply, or stop back here mid-September for more
details about the application process! We welcome members who are not
able to join us in-country, too. The more money we can raise, the more
help we can give!
How
can I help the Drew Honduras Project?
If
you'd like to help the Drew
Honduras Project, there are a number of things we
need, but the thing we need the most is money. It
costs about $1,100.00 to send each student on the
trip (for airfare, accommodation, food, materials
for the work projects, and donations to the children's homes and groups
we work with). Each group participant, including the faculty and staff
who accompany the students, must raise that money themselves, working
alone and with the group in project fundraisers. Every penny we raise
is spent getting us to Honduras, paying for the materials we need to do
the work there, and making donations to the people with whom we work.
We will happily accept (tax deductible) donations of money or frequent
flier miles (Continental Airlines). If you have suggestions about how
we might raise money, we'd love to know that too!
To make a donation, please contact Sandra Jamieson, the faculty advisor
for the group, at sjamieso@drew.edu.
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