It’s easy to take things for granted, whether it’s your home, your local surf spot, the people you see around town. For many Venezuelan surfers, all of those things were impacted in a huge way.
Six weeks after the twin earthquakes that flattened much of Venezuela’s northern coast, the beach where Francisco Reveron ran his surf school is covered in debris and lined with emergency tents for displaced families. His own family is one of them.
His daughter Emma is a passionate young surfer who has already lived through something most adults could not even imagine. They are amongst the lucky ones who made it out unscathed and that, although the surf school is on hold, her father has a job at the airport.
Many Venezuelans lost everything and are doing their best to survive in the disaster zone. The degree of destruction has left the area arund La Guaira in shambles. Building reduced to rubble. Waste removal long gone. Trash and debris totally covering the beaches.
Rather than simply stand idle and wait for help (that may not arrive anytime soon), Francisco has taken matters in his own hands by organizing clean ups with the local surf community. The video below gives you a look at the tragic state of La Guaira, yet, how determined and passionate they are to turn things around.
June 24
On the evening of June 24, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of La Guaira, the coastal state west of Caracas that is the beating heart of Venezuelan surfing. Thirty seconds later, a magnitude 7.5 mainshock followed. By the time the ground stopped moving, 80 percent of the buildings in La Guaira had collapsed. (SURFER covered the immediate humanitarian response in this report.)
As of early August, the confirmed death toll from the double quake has passed 6,100, Al Jazeera reports. More than 61,000 people have been hospitalized. Roughly 44,000 have lost their homes or are living in buildings deemed uninhabitable. The number of missing people is disputed: La Guaira’s governor puts the count at 1,579, while a crowdsourced database that many Venezuelans trust more than the official numbers estimates 41,300. The United Nations places the range between 40,000 and 50,000.
Why Standard Donations Don’t Reach Families Like Emma’s
For readers who want to help, there is a complication unique to the country. Venezuela is not connected to the SWIFT international banking system, and Venezuelan bank accounts and cards will not process the standard donation links we are used to. Families who want to receive international support have to route it through a trusted friend or relative with a bank account outside the country — usually via GoFundMe or a similar platform.
Emma’s family does not have that intermediary yet. For now, the only way they can receive support is by selling merchandise from the surf school. Please check out the post from @brotherssurfschool below for merchandise and to stay updated as things evolve.
Related: Venezuela Earthquake Shakes Local Surf Communities To The Core
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