Monday, March 22, 2010

Military Connections

Unlike Haiti, Chile has a strong infrastructure, which has enabled the country to respond quickly. In Talca, the assessment team made contact with some Colonels at the nearby Regimiento Infanteria Number 16. Inside the army post, we saw a basketball gym repurposed to be a nucleus of earthquake response for Maule, the 7th region of Chile.

Our company was invited into this nucleus to share information and resources. Though we would not be working WITH the Chilean military, we would be working ALONGSIDE them, to coordinate and compliment each other’s efforts.

In this nucleus, our assessment team also made contacts with the Governor of Maule, the President of the Association of Municipalities in Maule, the sub-director of Medical Services of Health in Maule, and the mayors of both San Clemente and Pencahue, two cities in Maule.

From these contacts, we learned that because the majority of aide was going to Concepcion, other affected areas were being forgotten. Our company decided to focus its efforts on Maule.

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