Aid worker reflects on Peru quake

Jose Manuel, a Catholic priest based in Ica, Peru, is helping survivors re-build their lives after a massive earthquake destroyed their homes and claimed more than 500 lives. He runs a medical project called Health Houses which is supported by the UK charity, Christian Aid.

Jose Manuel wants homes to be rebuilt with stronger materials

When the earthquake struck, I was in my house on the outskirts of Ica, in a shanty town called Senor de Luren. It's a shanty town made up of people who were displaced during the time of violence when the Shining Path guerrillas were fighting government forces.

They came down here and made their homes on a mountain of sand. Their houses were made of mud bricks, and of course they have nearly all fallen down.

So these people are on the streets. You can't sleep in the houses, everyone is sleeping outside. The ones that have not completely fallen down are too dangerous to go in. There have been more than 500 aftershocks - some have been quite long and quite strong.

People lost everything

After the earthquake, I went out very early the next day to see what was going on. Everyone was talking, starting to move the mud bricks to recover their things from the rubble.

They uncovered their beds, everything that was under the bricks. And of course they recovered the bodies. Until Sunday, they were still finding bodies under the rubble.

See map of the affected area

Everyone was walking around like zombies - you could see the panic on their faces, in people's eyes. Everybody felt so impotent.

Countries across Latin America have been sending relief supplies to Peru

People had lost everything. Absolutely everything. Not long ago they built their houses, and now they find themselves right back in the street with nothing. Having to start all over again.

Everyone is criticising the government. Certainly their ability to act when faced with this emergency was not ideal. But also we realised that it is a whole region we're talking about that has been affected.

I'm not one to criticise in these kinds of circumstances. The means of communication was cut, the electricity was out, the telephones were down. Everything was down.

They made an airstrip for Pisco and they were able to be there in Pisco, helping straight away.

Struggle with adversity

People here have an amazing ability to cope. The life of people here is difficult - a hard life with lots of adversity, all the time struggling and fighting against things that the rest of us are not used to.

They also have a terrific capacity to organise themselves. The morning after the earthquake the community leaders were there at 6am with lists in their hands of what needed to be done.

Aid agencies say many people may not have access to clean water

They have a tradition of the communal pot. Almost all of them have had the experience at one time or another of sharing food within the community. They all help their neighbours who are in trouble.

They found a little 10-year-old girl covering another smaller child, and she was injured. She covered her sister so she would not get hurt.

At these times you see the heroic, beautiful things people are capable of. But you also see the worst of people, people taking advantage of the disaster.

The earthquake was certainly a traumatic experience. After the first shock I went out to see the neighbours and everyone was scared and crying. I was just getting home when it started. I arrived at my door and it started to move a lot.

So I went out to the inside patio, and it just didn't stop. Normally we have tremors and they come and go - sometimes they are strong, but short. This not only went on a long time, but got stronger too.

I could hear things falling. The television fell. Everything, the furniture, everything fell and I realised this was really bad.

You start wondering if the wall is about to fall on top of you. You look up to see if the ceiling is falling in, or if a lamp post or a tree is about to crash down on you. Or if the earth is going to open up in front of you.

These are incredibly tense moments. You think of a lot of things all at once - of family and friends.

What do we do now, a week after the earthquake? What capacity do those who have lost their houses have to rebuild?

The homes must not be rebuilt with mud bricks, but with real materials. Are they going to do it? Do they have the will to prevent all of this happening again? It's a culture of prevention that we're lacking.

In the future, there should be no unsafe mud brick houses. Most of the people who died died in their homes. Old people who couldn't get out - lots of people died this way. Children as well.

It's not that it can't be done. It can. We can ensure that people have safe houses. It might be a simple house, it might be a cheap house, but it can be done. And that's what we're going to try and do. Let's see if we can manage it.

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER ZONE, AND TECTONIC PLATES

Earthquake struck on 15 August at 1841 local time

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake was centred just off the coast of Peru

Two tectonic plates clash at this region, the Nazca plate and the South American plate

There is about 7-8cm (3in) movement between the plates a year

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