Fotografo de Bodas, Santiago

March 4, 2010

My friend Lucho Plaza’s dad is the Alcalde (Mayor) of the comuna (neighborhood) of Cerro Navia here in Santiago. Cerro Navia isn’t the poorest comuna in the city, but I’m not going to beat around the bush — it’s pretty poor. I told Lucho about the video project I am trying to do for some big non-Chilean charities, so his dad gave us permission to walk around and talk to the people who had been hit by the earthquake. Driving in absolutely shocked me. In Estacion Central, there are still small neat and orderly piles of rubble lining the streets, and every one or two blocks you’ll find a house that’s roped off with “danger” warnings because it’s on the verge of collapse, or you’ll see a house that has no roof. In Cerro Navia, every other house is nearly destroyed.

Lucho is an architect and had been to the comuna the day before. He is volunteering his services to go around door to door and basically give people advice on which walls are still strong enough to keep holding up their houses and which ones need to be completely rebuilt from scratch. And then he authorizes the permits they need from the municipality to do the re-construction, or in many cases, the demolition.

We walked around for a couple of hours. He told people how much of their house to knock down. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Because I was with Lucho and another guy from the municipality, people thought we could help them. Everyone needed something — help from the social assistant, rebuilding their houses, food, or just a space to cook it in — and there was so little we could do. The worst was when we met people whose life — their house and all their earthly possessions — is now nothing more than a pile of rubble. And they’d ask, “How am I supposed to re-build? Where will I get the money for that? Everything I have is gone.”

Watch the videos. The first is a house that survived the actual earthquake, but then caught fire immediately afterward when a spark from a telephone pole nearby landed on it. The second is a family of 8 whose entire house collapsed. Today they started knocking down the rest of the remaining structure so that the government can come put up “viviendas,” or a type of temporary makeshift housing. I believe they said that the viviendas would be around 2×4 meters. They’re made of two by fours and look pretty not sturdy to me, especially with these strong aftershocks that we’ve been feeling. But then again, this family is currently living in a couple of tents. Something is better than nothing.

More Earthquake Damage in Chile from Kyle Hepp on Vimeo.

Earthquake damage in Chile from Kyle Hepp on Vimeo.

After seeing these videos, I urge you — donate now. You don’t have to do it through me, but do it in any way that you can. Because if you are sitting here reading this blog post, trust me, you’re better off than 100% of the people that I talked to today, by far.

If you do want to donate through me, I added pictures of Chile to my Etsy store. 100% of all proceeds will be donated to the Telethon on Friday that’s raising money for the victims, to help rebuild the parts of the country that have been devastated. For those of you in Europe/Australia/anywhere else, if you’d like, I will sell you the high resolution digital image for the same price as the prints. I know that is generally frowned upon in the photography world, but if it helps raise money for the cause, I really don’t care if someone makes 10,000 copies of a boat in Chiloe.

Donate or help in any way that you moves you. Just do it. Fellow human beings are suffering, they need your help.

Also, if you are still looking for missing people, the expat community is doing there best to help find anyone they can over at the All Chile forums. And Gina has Red Cross international and national donation info up at her blog. So if you have donated yet, find a way to do so.

28 Comments

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28 Comments »

THANK YOU, Kyle. The “untechoparachile.cl” drive is helping build the temporary houses. They cost about $960 each. People can contribute to the funds through their website by credit card.
This footage is insane. It literally makes me cry. We are doing all we can here. We're helping out at a benefit this weekend and so far 150 people have signed up to come. Oscar is speaking to some of his business contacts for corporate donations. I want sooooo badly to go down to Chile and help with the efforts. I'm seriously considering it for a month this summer.
Love you and thank you for all you are doing to spread awareness.

Comment by asuhey — March 4, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
PS, Kyle, you're becoming a journalist

Comment by asuhey — March 4, 2010 @ 12:19 pm
I already donated food and clothes and all kinds of stuff to the Red Cross and I am just wanting access to my money online so that I can donate much needed $$$$. Thank you for this Kyle. You are helping immensely and more so, motivating all of us to help.

Comment by Andrea Gonzalez — March 4, 2010 @ 4:20 pm
Great Report Kyle…your a natural for the press stuff..
did you use the MkII for the video? im sure i heard some frames being taken…?
very touching report

Comment by gardnerhamilton — March 4, 2010 @ 7:19 pm
There are no words to describe what I feel when I watch your videos… Just heartbraking! Thanks so much for keeping us updated.

Comment by GlobalButterfly — March 5, 2010 @ 8:00 am
Wow Kyle, That footage is crazy! I'm glad you are okay and that people like you are there to help! Keep up the good work!

Comment by Jennifer Gelardos — March 5, 2010 @ 8:27 am
[...] If you’d like to donate through me, please go ahead and buy yourself a nice little print — 100% of the proceeds go to the earthquake victims. If you would rather just donate money through paypal, use my email address: kylehepp@gmail.com and I will deposit directly to the Telethon. And if you would rather help in some other way, you’ll find links in my past three posts about where and how you can help. Just help. Chile needs you. [...]

Pingback by Help For Earthquake Victims | Kyle Hepp — March 5, 2010 @ 11:40 am
[...] are also some other laudable and inventive fundraising initiatives going: Kyle Hepp, who is an American photographer based in Santiago, is selling prints of her some of her b…, and Tyffanie is selling some of her husband’s prints of Chile [...]

Pingback by Chile ayuda a Chile – Chile helping Chile « Ironically dull? — March 6, 2010 @ 12:32 pm
Thanks for the videos! It's always good to see everything through someone else's eyes instead of the news. I'll spread the word.

Comment by Christy — March 9, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
P.S what kind of camera are you using? The quality is great.

Comment by Christy — March 9, 2010 @ 6:34 pm
It was all I could do not to cry while I was there. But people were very brave and very optimistic and that helped me keep it together! I hope you can come down. Chile needs the help now if you can manage it!

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:42 pm
haha, if so I am the WORST journalist EVER.

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
Ahhhhh, I just want to do more!

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
Yep that is the rusty trusty MKII for the video. The sound you are hearing is me changing the exposure!

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:44 pm
I will try to continue to do so…

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:44 pm
It really is crazy Jennifer. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I probably wouldn't even believe it…

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:44 pm
De nada Christy, I agree that the news isn't always the best way to find out about what's really happening on the ground.

And I was using my camera the 5d Mark II for the video.

Comment by kyleracine — March 9, 2010 @ 8:45 pm
Thanks for the videos! It's always good to see everything through someone else's eyes instead of the news. I'll spread the word.

Comment by Christy — March 10, 2010 @ 2:33 am
P.S what kind of camera are you using? The quality is great.

Comment by Christy — March 10, 2010 @ 2:34 am
It was all I could do not to cry while I was there. But people were very brave and very optimistic and that helped me keep it together! I hope you can come down. Chile needs the help now if you can manage it!

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:42 am
haha, if so I am the WORST journalist EVER.

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:43 am
Ahhhhh, I just want to do more!

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:43 am
Yep that is the rusty trusty MKII for the video. The sound you are hearing is me changing the exposure!

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:44 am
I will try to continue to do so…

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:44 am
It really is crazy Jennifer. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I probably wouldn't even believe it…

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:44 am
De nada Christy, I agree that the news isn't always the best way to find out about what's really happening on the ground.

And I was using my camera the 5d Mark II for the video.

Comment by kyleracine — March 10, 2010 @ 4:45 am
[...] If you’d like to donate through me, please go ahead and buy yourself a nice little print — 100% of the proceeds go to the earthquake victims. If you would rather just donate money through paypal, use my email address: kylehepp@gmail.com and I will deposit directly to the Telethon. And if you would rather help in some other way, you’ll find links in my past three posts about where and how you can help. Just help. Chile needs you. [...]

Pingback by Kyle Hepp Photography — March 11, 2010 @ 9:08 am
[...] And now I’ve lived through a big one — which is a statement that sounds much more dramatic than it really is. My house didn’t fall. My car wasn’t swept away by the ocean. All I had to do was sit tight and not have a heart attack for three minutes while the Earth took me for a ride. I’m happy to be where we’re living now, with Seba’s parents, because this house withstood the ‘quake of ‘85 — now looking back, coming in at a measly 7.8, seems like NADA — especially after we just had a 7.2 aftershock this morning. But anyway, if this house withstood ‘85 and now ‘10, I am not worried it’s going to fall in an aftershock. The only thing about these large aftershocks that scare me is when I think about what damage they are doing to the people who’s houses had already fallen, or were on the brink of falling. [...]

Pingback by Kyle Hepp Photography — March 12, 2010 @ 8:57 pm