“This is a disaster, but we must look at it with the eyes of faith.” With these words the Archbishop of San Salvador, Ernesto Saenz Lacalle—speaking like a general addressing his troops—rallied the small but highly organized army of volunteers who had gathered to help rebuild El Salvador after the January 13 earthquake that shocked the small Central American country.

The tremor, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, wreaked havoc on the impoverished nation of 6.2 million people—causing landslides, ripping up roads, and destroying tens of thousands of homes throughout the country. Some 750,000 people were forced to take refuge in emergency shelters.

While the tragedy in El Salvador was soon displaced in the international news headlines by the still more devastating quake in India, Salvadoran Catholics were mobilizing as quickly as possible to bring aid to the survivors. The creation of a relief network, according to Salvadoran President Francisco Flores, “was almost as fast as Las Colinas.” Flores was referring to an explosive landslide near San Salvador, which struck so fast that nearly half of the victims died within just a few seconds.

Building a city, rebuilding a nation
Disregarding the hundreds of aftershocks that have been felt since the quake, Catholic agencies and volunteers have been moving at full speed with the distribution of relief supplies to the neediest survivors. “The presence of the Catholic Church has also been critical in organizing El Cafetalon,” said Herminio Huerta of the police department in San Salvador, the nation’s capital.

In fact the relief center known as El Cafetalon is the largest tent shelter ever built in Central America. Because of the scale of the relief operation, the logistical demands of administration—sorting out food and medicine, keeping supply lines open, and even simply maintaining safety and public order—had become almost a nightmare. Before the Catholic Church took over the operation, there were widespread accusations of incompetence and even theft, and conditions had degenerated so badly that police feared a riot. “The administration of El Cafetalon is still very complicated, but at least people feel more relaxed because of the Church presence,” Huerta explained.

President Flores called attention not only to the Church efforts to distribute immediate aid, but also to the ambitious plans for long-term recovery. In the aftermath of the quake, the national government issued grants to the communities hit by the quake, amounting to $200 for each home destroyed. Of that figure, $100 was to be allotted to clearing out the debris and the remaining $100 to rebuild the roads and local infrastructure so that new homes could quickly be erected. Kits containing all the materials necessary for the construction of tin-roofed temporary homes were handed out to the homeless.

Still, despite the fast response and the generosity of relief workers, the needs of the homeless outstripped the resources of a country that is still riddled with poverty and burdened by foreign debt. So the Salvadoran bishops, led by Archbishop Saenz Lacalle, organized a $114.3 million project designed to replace the 250,000 homes that had been destroyed.

To raise the funds, the Catholic relief organization Caritas requested the support of the Catholic Church in other countries. But first the Church asked for help from the wealthiest 20 percent of the people in El Salvador itself. Each of these wealthy individuals was asked to make an immediate contribution of no less than $115 to the rebuilding campaign.

“We are looking to launch a fair, practical campaign to express Christian charity and bring together the have and have-nots during the Lenten season,” said Father Jesus Delgado, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Salvador. The fundraising effort will also make demands on native Salvadorans living abroad, especially in the United States—who have already proven their ability to pump funds into the local economy. Although most of the Salvadorans now living in the US are classified as illegal immigrants, they are apparently earning decent wages. Immediately after the earthquake, Salvadoran émigrés in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Austin sent more than 200 tons of aid supplies, and $3 million in cash. And the flow of cash from the north has been a constant reality of the Salvadoran economy in recent years. According to Father Delgado, “If Salvadorans living in the US are able to send $1.7 billion each year, it is evident that the wealthy people of the country are capable of helping in a decisive way.”

Competition for aid
“We are also counting on the solidarity of the Catholic Church around the world, which has been shown to be an incredibly supportive community,” Father Delgado said. He pointed to the “incredibly quick” arrival of Cardinals Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga and Theodore McCarrick, who traveled to El Salvador from their own archdioceses—Tegulcigalpa, Honduras, and Washington, DC, respectively—to survey the quake damage and offer assistance. Both prelates immediately organized special collections in their own archdioceses for the relief efforts. In Tegucigalpa the collection raised more money than any other effort previously organized in Honduras.

When Archbishop Saenz Lacalle went on a fundraising tour of Europe and the United States, his results were similarly successful. The Spanish relief organization Caritas contributed $5 million. The Italian bishops’ conference added $1.2 million. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston offered $300,000; Archbishop John Favalora of Miami pledged further aid.

The Catholic Church effort to rebuild El Salvador will be particularly critical, since government officials fear that not all the money promised by other countries and international organizations will actually arrive. In fact a month after the quake, only $1.2 million in financial assistance had reached San Salvador, out of a total of $17.2 million already pledged. No wonder, then, President Flores recently stated: “The support of the Catholic Church to rebuilding the country has been almost as critical as Salvadorans’ faith in overcoming this human tragedy.”