Ayres Gives Guatemala Eyewitness Report to Presiding Bishop's Fund Board
Episcopal News Service. February 19, 1976 [76074]
Greenwich, Conn. -- The Board of the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, meeting here Feb. 15-16, received a special eyewitness account of the devastation following the Guatemala earthquake from Robert M. Ayres, Jr., an Episcopal layman from Christ Church, San Antonio, Tex.
Mr. Ayres, an active volunteer in many relief projects in Africa and Central America, visited Guatemala at the request of the Fund's Board and acted as its official representative. While in Guatemala he consulted with U.S. Embassy officials, the U.S. Information Service, USAID, and representatives of Church World Service.
Mr. Ayres told the Board of "unbelievable sights" in Guatemala City, of people sleeping in the streets in hastily pitched makeshift tents. He said that those whose homes were still intact also slept outdoors in fear of another major quake. Mr. Ayres reported 35 to 40 minor tremors a day during his five-day visit and said that there were 285,000 homeless in Guatemala City alone, and an estimated 22,000 dead.
The outlying areas, he said, "looked like they had been hit by an atomic bomb," with fragile adobe brick huts lying in heaps, totally destroyed.
Mr. Ayres cited slogans such as "Guatemala on its feet" in local newspapers and noted that the people of Guatemala are "remarkable" in their determination to rebuild in the wake of disaster. The greatest needs, he said, are for adequate shelter, a clean water supply, and transportation. Mr. Ayres reported that several reservoirs had cracked and that precautions were being taken against an outbreak of typhus. U.S. Army engineers have flown in several 3,000-gallon rubber tanks and water purification supplies According to Mr. Ayres, it is particularly important to repair roads immediately, before the spring rainy season makes such work impossible.
Mr. Ayres also reported that the complex in Guatemala City which houses the Church of St. James (Santiago) and the diocesan offices of Bishop Anselmo Carral, was almost completely destroyed.
Mr. Ayres is setting up a special office in San Antonio to coordinate material aid response from U.S. Episcopalians for the rehabilitation needs of the churches in Guatemala. Further information about this effort may be obtained from Mr. Ayres at 100 National Bank of Commerce Building, San Antonio, Tex. 78205.
Monetary response for the Episcopal Church is channeled through the Presiding Bishop's Fund. Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, in a telegram to all diocesan bishops, has launched a special Guatemala appeal. Checks marked "Guatemala" should be sent to the Presiding Bishop's Fund at 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017.
Mrs. Howard O. Bingley, executive director of the Fund, reported that in addition to $20,000 in emergency grants to the Missionary Diocese of Guatemala and another $90,000 to be channeled through Church World Service, the Fund has received $2,000 from the Diocese of West Texas, $3,200 from the Diocese of Central Florida (companion diocese to Guatemala), $3,000 from the Diocese of Texas, and $25,000 from the Diocese of Colorado. The Rt. Rev. William C. Frey, Bishop of Colorado, was Bishop of Guatemala from 1967 to 1972.
The Diocese of Kentucky, which had a six-year companion relationship with Guatemala, has sent a team of pediatricians, nurses and a pharmacist to set up a child care clinic.
Mrs. Bingley reported that individual contributions in small and large amounts are coming in to the Fund's office from throughout the Church.
The Fund's Board has also authorized monies for a special diocesan coordinator to handle the secular aspects of recovery, leaving Bishop Carral free to exercise his pastoral and episcopal functions. The Board has authorized the coordinator's services for a period of three months.