Cleanup has just about been finished in all the towns south of Ensenada. Of course there are those that lost everything and will never been able to just clean up and move on. The larger issue that we are seeing now is a lack of work. The flooding happened about a month ago now and since that time there has been little work in the fields. This lack of work will continue for at least another month, maybe more, as we wait for the tomatoes to be ready for picking. A two month period without work for people who live week to week on what they make in the fields is devastating. We've heard many stories of people who have had to run up huge bills in the stores just to buy food on credit. Not to mention those who have lost everything trying to replace beds or clothes or furniture with little to no income. The floods seems to be over but the damage that they left goes far beyond wet houses and muddy roads.
Baja Missions, thanks to your donations, has been buying food in 100 lb. bags and distributing that food to the preachers in the congregations that were most affected by the floods. Immediately after the flooding the churches became places where those in the community could come to get a warm mean. Now that the majority of people are back in their homes, the preachers have been dividing up the food into food sets and taking those sets to members of the church as well as members of the community that are in need. Currently, Baja Missions is sending bags of rice, beans, flour, boxes of oil, and cartons of milk weekly to the congregations.
The relief trip that was here from Feb 6th-13th did an amazing job to help get the cleanup process started in many of the towns from San Vicente south. We had groups in San Vicente, Colonet, Camalu, Vicente Guerrero, and San Quintin. Each group's tasks for the week looked very different according to the needs that they encountered in each place. Over the course of the week over forty homes had repairs to their roofs or completely new roofs put on due to the damage from the storm. Repairs were done to classrooms in San Quintin where water had gotten in and destroyed the drywall. In Camalu, awnings were installed over the doors of the church to prevent rain from entering. Many houses in Colonet were cleaned out for the first time two weeks after the flood. The church in Colonet was restored to it's preflood conditions. Countless food sets were made up and passed out in every church. Blankets were handed out as well as mattresses and other furniture items for families who lost everything. The groups did a great job of working together where ever help was needed. All of the groups made trips to Colonet, where flooding was the worst, at some point during the week to help re-roof homes or to muck out houses that hadn't been touched in over two weeks. Everyone was busy from the time they arrived to Ensenada on Saturday night until they got on the bus to head home at 5am on Saturday morning.
After sitting down and looking at everything that was accomplished I can say, without a doubt, that the most important and thing that was done during the week that the relief team was here is not included in that list. Roofs will start to leak again at some point, paint will fade, the blankets will get holes in them, and the food will run out, but the support and love that the group was able to show to our brothers and sisters, as well as members of the community, will not soon be forgotten. I wish I could tell all of the stories and put on here every person that said thank you for coming or thanks for your support. Thank you to everyone who sacrificed to come on the the relief trip, you really made a difference! Thank you to everyone who has helped with prayers or donations I hope one day you will be able to see fully how much you have helped and are continuing to help in this recovery process.
My goal in doing this review of the past few weeks was not to include everything that was done. It would be impossible. I urge you to talk to people who came on the relief trip to hear first hand about what they saw and experienced. Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of the people of Baja during these tough times. Your help has made a huge difference. I have been overwhelmed with the amount of calls and emails and messages I have gotten just wanting to know how everyone is doing and what people can do to help. Thanks!
Here are some pictures from the relief efforts. If you have a picture you'd like me to put up here, please feel free to email it to me and I'll see what I can do to get them up for everyone to see!
Picture of the bridge out in San Vicente, since then the government has filled this in with dirt to make the road passable
We crossed the river in San Vicente with food in our backpacks to get it to Antonio and Dulce in Colonet. This was on Saturday after the bridge collapsed on Thursday night.
Church in Colonet again before cleanup
First cleanup efforts in Colonet with brothers from Camalu, Maneadero, Colonet, and Colonia 89
In Camalu over three feet of dirt from the strawberry fields was washed into one of the communities. The level of the road before the flood is where the truck is.
A house in Camalu over two weeks after the flood. It hadn't been touched.
Church in Colonet after the relief team
Wood paneling was installed 4ft. up the wall in case of future flooding.
The podium was saved and a new platform built
The building was repainted
Misael and Alejandro took food sets to Colonet yesterday and helped Antonio and Dulce pass them out.
The food sets are very valuable to families who haven't worked in almost a month
The rains were devastating for many in Baja, but these new chile plants will thrive with all the water that the region has received and people are cautiously optimistic that there will be more work this summer than in previous years due to the rain. Let's pray for this!
Have a blessed week, and thank you for everything!
-Matt
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