Peru needs your help as hundreds of thousands of people suffer floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains likely linked to climate change. More than 100 people are dead and 700,000 are homeless. More than 200 bridges and 1,000 miles of roads have also been destroyed.
Peruvians who lost their homes need bottled water, canned food, tents, toilet paper, medicine and other basics. And once the rains subside, Peru will have to rebuild infrastructure and help families and businesses which lost everything.
Peru has distributed several thousand tons of aid donated by Peruvian families and companies, but at least as much as has been donated is still needed. Peru’s government said that local donations are slowing down as the story has stopped dominating the headlines.
Economists estimate the cost of reconstruction at over $6 billion – more than 3 percent of Peru’s gross domestic product.
If you live in Peru, there are donation sites near you. But if you don’t live Peru, the easiest way to help is via the Peruvian embassy in the United States. They’ve set up a simple payment processor here:
www.embassyofperu.org/donation-campaign
UPDATE: The Peruvian embassy in the United States ended its pledge campaign after one month. To donate now, they recommend any of the NGOs on this website:
www.globalgiving.org/peru-floods-2017/
We are donating through CARE for no particular reason other than we had heard of them before. But as indicated all of those charities were approved by Peru’s embassy.
Anything helps.
Peruvian Naturals will donate 3 percent of all earnings for March, April, May and June.
The following video has become the signature image of the 2017 coastal El Niño. A woman escapes an overflowing river in Punta Hermosa.