Those who say that they are not afraid are lying
By CARE
I was sitting down with Michael Raczynski, who is called „Don Miguel“ here in Chile. We were talking about all the things coming up in the next couple of days: his trip to the south of Chile with my colleague Axel Rottländer; the logistical question of where, when and what to buy. Axel is part of the emergency response team of CARE Germany-Luxembourg and an expert in managing disasters like the recent earthquakes here in Chile or Haiti.
And there is Roswitha sitting with us. At 72, she has already worked for the Fundacion Alemana para el Desarrollo, CARE’s partner in Chile, for 24 years. Tomorrow, she and I will visit a home for the elderly which was heavily damaged during the earthquake. Afterwards, we will visit an orphanage for HIV-affected children.
Suddenly the conversation comes to a stop. Logistics, travel plannings and procurement – everything looses its importance from one second to the other. The earth is shaking. We look at each other and I ask: “That is an earthquake, isn’t it?“ Somehow a stupid question, but Roswitha smiles and answers in a mild, friendly way: “Yes, this is an earthquake.”
It is not the tent moving, but a building
Axel was sitting next door, writing the first Situation Report for CARE, but now he is standing in the doorway and asks the same question: “Is that a quake?” It lasts a long time, at least 40 to 50 seconds.
This time it is Don Miguel who affirms the observation. I am reminded of my journey to Pakistan in December 2005. Even weeks after the devastating earthquake in that region, I could still notice the same movements of the earth under my feet. But this time it is different. Here I am not below the open sky in a tent, but in a building in the middle of Santiago de Chile.
I ask Roswitha and Don Miguel how one can judge the force of such a quake. “You can’t”, Don Miguel answers. “And believe me; everybody who says he is not afraid of earthquakes is lying.”
In the evening, I meet with a couple of Chileans who lived in Germany for many years. We talk about all the World and his brother, the rich and poor in Chile, the new government, that will come into office on the 11th of march and – of course – about the devastating earthquake of the 27th of February. “I was sitting with my husband in our living room, when my son came in saying, that this quake was lasting a long time”, Alicia says. She wanted to go and comfort him, “but then I noticed that I could not even walk straight.”
Supporting each other, the three of them tried to reach the front-door. „There we held on to the doorframe. “ The house was creaking in every spot. Everything moved somehow. “And it sounds like Brrrrmmmmmmm, the whole time. “ It would make no sense to flee onto the street, they say. You would get killed by rubble falling down.
Don Miguel was right: Those who say that they are not afraid are lying.
