Director's Report on the El Salvador Floods:

9 November 2009

Dear COAR Peace Mission :

A thousand thanks for being so attentive to us; since early hours yesterday, I have been in contact with the Head of the Housemothers (Orientadoras) of the residences of the children of COARCV; when through the news media, all of us Salvadorans were made aware of the catastrophe that has left many of our brothers and sisters in the rest of the country homeless, without food, and without even the minimum of resources necessary to survive.

Thank GOD and the MOST HOLY VIRGIN MARY, in our case, we have not suffered any human injury or material damage; this morning, the first thing that I did was to personally travel to each area of the Institution, accompanied by the Head of Maintenance, and it was at this time that I was able to identify that two slopes of earth have collapsed: one that has come off on a slope lateral to the Convent that faces the highway, the same that has been recently “finished,” and on this slope, it broke a pipe (all of this is completely exterior to the facilities) and the other has come loose on the exterior as well, adjacent to the exit gate toward the highway to the Port, and it has left an accumulation of mud and garbage that came to rest where the pedestrian bridge is located, and that has been disassembled because of the construction on the road.

I took the opportunity to walk along the highway, to be able to approach the Resident Engineer in charge of the construction project on the highway, I mentioned the situation to him and he responded that that they would begin to carry out a general inspection of the affected plots, including ours, and he also commented to me that as Minister of Public Works (FOVIAL) they will assume [the responsibility for] the jobs that need repairing.

As far as the area surrounding our Institution goes, the news media comments that in the Port of La Libertad, the Mayor declared that there are around 3500 families that are victims; when I heard this I contacted the City Hall of Zaragoza, so that we could agree upon a way of verifying the situation in Zaragoza, and also finding out about any affected relatives of our resident children [internos]. This afternoon, shortly, the Municipal Secretary will arrive.

I will keep you informed of any progress and steps that we take along with City Hall to try to support the communities that may need our help, since Mons . Antall has let me know that one of the new charges of COARCV is to reach out in Christian charity.

Thank you, once again, for your concern; I want to mention to you as my last point that yesterday afternoon, I called Mons . Antall to let him know that the Institution was in good condition, both our internos and internal facilities.

With special thanks, and cordial greetings to all,

María Isaura Aráuz Quijano, Directora de COARCV