More than a month after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit western Colombia, killing hundreds of people and destroying nearly 30,000 homes, a Northern Virginia teacher is working to raise money for family members affected by the disaster.
Andrea Steger’s three elderly uncles — Ramiro, Efraín and Leo, who has advanced Parkinson’s disease — lost the homes they had built for themselves, and their families are living in tents, she told WTOP.
Steger, who teaches English-language learners in Manassas Park, said her uncles live in a remote rural community and don’t have access to the resources needed to rebuild.
“The closest town is getting help with building materials. They are getting help with construction workers, but it’s hard to get help because [my uncles] live, I would say, 40 minutes away from the closest town. So, there is not really anybody going to those rural areas to help,” Steger said.
Immediately following the earthquake, Steger’s co-workers gave her money to help her uncles with food, clothing and medication, but housing remains their greatest need, she said. So Steger launched a fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $20,000 to finance the building of two homes for her uncles and their families.
The earthquake that impacted Steger’s family struck Aug. 10, about six weeks after the devastating back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela and about two weeks before flash floods in Nepal killed thousands.
The three disasters pulled international aid and funding in all directions, and aid has been slow to reach rural areas like the community where Steger’s family lives.
“Everything happens too close to the other,” Steger said. “So, at the beginning, when the earthquake just happened, I know there was like a lot of people trying to help, but I feel like at this point … everybody’s forgetting about it.”
“I just want to make sure that we are still getting help because there is a lot of people who lost everything,” she added.
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