Help Isla Providencia after Hurricane Iota

On November 16th 2020 category 5 hurricane Iota hit the island of Providencia with devastating power. The wind reached over 230 km per hour in the eye of the storm, just 8km away from Providencia.  To give you an idea: hurricane Katrine in the USA in 2005 was also a category 5 hurricane, so you can imagine the impact of such hurricanes.

The hurricane left 98% of Providencia’s infrastructure destroyed, the majority of the people without drinking water, food, electricity and a roof over their heads. The word ‘warzone’ would describe the current situation best. The community lost two of their people and several wounded. The hospital was also too damaged to use and Providencia had to wait for help from the mainland and San Andres island. However, due to the bad weather circumstances it took some time before the first help arrived.

I’ve visited Providencia island in 2018 and in 2019 and I absolutely fell in love with this little piece of paradise and its community in the Caribbean sea. It breaks my heart to see what is left after the destruction. When you read or hear about natural disasters on the other side of the world, you empathize but you quickly move on with your day-to-day. Seeing a place that you know, where you’ve been, so devasted after a natural disaster, makes it hard to just let it be. It’s time to take action.

The hurricane took people’s houses, animals, churches, schools, the hospital and even its tropical vegetation. So the least we can do is to help them get some of the basic necessities they so desperately need at this moment.

I’m in close contact with a local family on Providencia who have a relative living on the neighboring island of San Andres. Even though their own houses are in shambles, they’ve been focusing on coordinating emergency aid from San Andres. Gathering drinking water, preservable foods, personal hygiene products, clothes and whatever else is urgently needed such as solar lights. They go back and forward with speedboats every few days to deliver it to the people who need it the most on Providencia.

This also means that 100% of the funds will go directly to the community and the impact of your donation immediately has an impact on people that have lost everything.

So instead of getting that 2,50,- coffee to go at the gas station today, please consider supporting these people in need. Every bit helps! 

Your help is highly appreciated and I will give updates on this page to let you know how it’s going. 

Thank you in advance!

- See photo's below

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For more news videos, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whShO9_9Fb0&t=16s&ab_channel=NoticiasCaracol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTUC6RszMc&ab_channel=ELTIEMPO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9UR6ZKOJPg&t=34s&ab_channel=ELTIEMPO

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Before the hurricane: 

After the hurricane: