On October 9th, at 12.56 pm, a 7.7 earthquake shook the foundations of the earth and of our community, changing the course of our coast in seconds.

The Western Coast of the Azuero Peninsula in Panama is a very rural 100 kilometer stretch of road where thousands of people live, spread out between mountain, jungle and the sea.

While no lives were lost, the devastation caused is massive: broken roads, collapsed homes, collapsed wells, and a complete meltdown of an already vulnerable population.

We are still in peak crisis mode, with hundreds of displaced families, many smaller communities only accessible by airplane and countless families who have lost absolutely everything.

Temporary camps have been informally setup but the aftershocks (more than 415 to date (with 277 of more than 4), as well as strong torrential rains, and the constant threat of landslides is making stability more and more challenging.

We don’t know how long the peak crisis mode will last, but in the foreground, a looming and sobering reality awaits: the rebuild.

While 72 hours have passed and the community, and our network of friends, has mobilized day and night to get critial aid in: water, food, medicines, we are quickly realizing that the scope of help needed far surpasses what we can achieve on our own.

Rebuilding the community, the homes and the small businesses that employ most of the community will need support from both our network and NGOs willing to step in. But there are many small ways, we, as a community, can be the boots on the ground and get aid deployed.

So we are turning to you, our international community to be the bridge that helps us to help provide relief and start the rebuild process.

From the bottom of our earths, and on behalf of the whole coast, we thank you for your love and support.