By Marcelle Richards
Daily Bruin Contributor
A 7.6 earthquake shook the nation of El Salvador and loved ones
overseas here in the U.S. ““ many of whom make their homes in
Los Angeles.
The earthquake struck Saturday, leaving 44,000 homes destroyed
and more than 700 dead.
At UCLA, students groups such as MEChA have been drawing support
by selling candy to raise money. Nonetheless, many feel there
should be more awareness on campus.
“I don’t think UCLA is as diverse as many think it
is, and it is because of this lack of diversity that we do not have
much awareness,” said Karla Pleitez, a fourth-year student of
El Salvadoran descent with relatives in El Salvador. “We have
a tendency to limit our actions to our small bubbles.”
Collaboration between on-campus groups and off-campus
organizations such as the Red Cross and Operation USA currently do
not exist.
“There should be more discussion of it ““ it is a
campus issue and it does affect a serious amount of students who
attend UCLA,” said Fabian Remteria-Franco, a second year
history and Chicana/o studies student and MEChA member. “UCLA
should definitely be doing more. There’s a lot of people who
are dying out there.”
The student support has been sparse so far, according to
Remteria-Franco. While the campus holds potential for enormous
impact, he said the school has isolated itself from involvement in
such external affairs.
“There should be more of a link to the community,”
he said. “We’re getting an education, but at the same
time we should be aware people need help.”
For Remteria-Franco, who is of Mexican decent, the earthquake in
El Salvador brought back memories of the 1985 earthquake in
Mexico.
“It hit home ““ I have a lot of friends from El
Salvador,” he said, as he remembered receiving calls from
friends who had trouble getting through to family in El Salvador.
“You have remembrances … family’s an important
thing.”
For Pleitez, family ties keep her passionate about helping
others.
“Many of my family members are in El Salvador,” she
said. “Thankfully, they are all okay, but it’s the
saddest thing in the world to think of all those who were buried
alive.”
Of integral aid to quake victims and their families has been the
American Red Cross, which donated $100,000 and is continuing to
raise money through local support.
“Our mission statement is to help people prepare, respond
to and recover from disasters,” said Rick Radillo, spokesman
of the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. “Once the
smoke clears, we can help people who are displaced.”
The Red Cross handled calls and queries from community members
who have left monetary donations to aid victims and ask about
casualties, Radillo said.
Inquiries about injuries and casualties were redirected to the
Salvadoran Consulate, where the amount of damage incurred left many
aghast, Radillo said.
Many El Salvadoran expatriates living in the U.S. are currently
suspended in limbo, according to Radillo. Of the many trying to
return home to see their families, restrictions in the citizenship
application process have made that difficult, forcing them to
remain in the states and wait out the announcements on injuries and
mortalities, he said.
Operation USA, an L.A.-based disaster relief organization, has
worked to collect medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and funds to
send to El Salvador.
“People can help by giving money so it can be spent
according to the needs of the people,” said Naomi Wyles,
Operation USA staff member. “It’s not clothing they
need, it’s not food; the needs right now are
reconstruction.”
The quake left only 2 percent of the local vegetation intact,
while homes were wiped out completely, leaving only foundations and
rubble to mark where neighborhoods once stood, according to news
reports
“With the rainy season coming, there’s going to be
an urgency for shelter,” Wyles said.
The community has been the backbone of the aid effort so far:
over half of the calls and checks directed to Operation USA have
come from U.S. residents with friends or family in El Salvador,
Wyles said.
Tonight, Conciencia Libre will be hosting a symposium in Public
Policy 2355 at 6 p.m. to discuss the earthquake, with guest speaker
Schafik Handel, president of la Asamlea Nacional Salvadorena.
“It takes huge disasters to awaken general apathy,”
Pleitez said. “We tend to forget ourselves in our school
work, partying and everyday issues.”