Imagine visiting a foreign country surrounded by strangers and a natural disaster occurs.
For two University students studying abroad in Peru, that experience is all too familiar.
Caitlin Harwood, Spanish senior, and Jessica Platt, international studies and Spanish junior, were in the capital city of Lima preparing to attend the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos as a part of their study abroad program.
But an 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Aug. 15, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured in the most affected cities including Pisco, Carete and Chincha. Many were left homeless and are now temporarily living in tents in parks and city squares, according to Time.com.
Harwood stood in the kitchen of her student home she shares with several housemates, including Platt, in the barrio of Pueblo Libre in Lima when the earthquake hit.
“The things on the walls and countertops shook quickly and made noise, but it felt like the ground was swaying from left to right really slowly,” Harwood said.
Harwood said she and her housemates went outside with neighbors and waited for the earthquake to stop. The shaking lasted more than two minutes.
Platt was on a city bus returning to Pueblo Libre from Miraflores, another barrio of Lima, when the earthquake occurred. The bus stopped in front of a building surrounded by people and a police car when the bus began to shake. She said she thought a riot had started and people were shaking the bus.
“I realized that we were having an earthquake and, though this sounds funny, I was kind of relieved because I would rather be in an earthquake than a Peruvian riot,” Platt said.
On her walk to the student house, Platt saw many people standing outside looking frightened. One family told her they were unsure if it was safe to reenter their house. Once she returned home, there were a few aftershocks.
For the next few days, shops and restaurants in Lima were closed. Harwood said people gathered in the streets and spoke about the strength of the country and its ability to recuperate from the disaster. Platt said the news channels showed relief workers pulling bodies out of fallen buildings and lining them along the streets because the morgues were full.
Classes at the university were postponed for about one week. Even after classes resumed, many students and professors from the hardest hit areas were unable to attend.
“I immediately thought of the people hit the hardest in Ica, Chincha, and Pisco and contacted local organizations that might take volunteers to those areas,” Harwood said.
The relief organizers told her they were accepting monetary donations but no physical labor because the areas were too dangerous for volunteers to enter.
Concerned family members and friends contacted the University students after the earthquake. Platt said some of the messages she received were from friends who rarely watch the news, making her realize how much coverage these little towns were getting in the United States.
“It was kind of surreal I think because Caitlin and I had just gone to Pisco, along with a couple other places,” Platt said. “And to think that we were just there and now it is mostly rubble is hard to believe.”
Both students are continuing their semester in Peru and eager to help in any way they can.
“This experience did not encourage me to abandon my studies and return home,” Harwood said. “Through this unforeseeable horror I’ve seen the people of Lima and all of Peru come together in an effort to help those who now have nothing.”
—-Contact Olivia Hernandez at [email protected]