The Rebuilding Has Begun!

Andrea's brother Fernando stands on the left next to John who has little Martin on his shoulders. Little Martin is the "Straw Boss" for this construction crew. Cecelia is standing inbetween John and Andrea with big Martin on the far right. Let the work begin!!!

Where to begin??

Building Cost to increase...

Having heard from them again the estimated costs to finish building have increased by about $500 from $4000 to $4500. They had to buy more material because they did not convert the measurements correctly the first time. The good news is that the donations have increased to $4495.00 which hopefully will cover the building costs. The costs could still go up somewhat but they are most interested in finishing the rebuilding and only hopeful to be able to furnish it. The furnishings that we hope to be able to get remain at about $1500.00. Andrea is going to try to post some pictures the next time she is able to get on the internet.

Her mother and brothers are so appreciative of all that is being done on their behalf. Andrea has heard so many stories and is saddened by the destruction and all that so many people she knew went through.

Update on rebuilding

After a long trip to Chile when the plane from Seattle was delayed for one hour because of a storm and the plane from Atlanta Georgia had to make an emergency landing in Orlando Florida and delayed them atleast four more hours they arrived in Concepcion late in the evening of May 30th.

The good news is that the roof did not have to be replaced and someone rewired her house for free. They took $4000 down with them and have spent $2900 of it and were able to buy the refrigerator, stove and clothes washer as well as many of the building materials. They still do have to get the flooring and paint and other things. Which I am estimating will use up the rest of the $4000.00 if not a little more.

What is left is the following:

Futon/sofa $286.71
Queen Bed $361.92
Twin bed set $266.67
Kitchen cabinets $561.90

This comes to $1482.20 or just under $1500.00. So our goal has changed to $5500.00
Some money is still trickling in and we appreciate so much all that has been donated so far. If you wanted to donate but felt it was too late we could still use help for the furnishings that still need to be purchased. Thank you so much!

And the winner of the iPod Giveaway is...

Marcy Foster! Congratulations!! And THANK YOU to EVERYONE who donated!!!! We really appreciate all of your help and couldn't do it without you!

iPod Giveaway!

We are giving away a brand new 8 Gb Apple iPod nano on May 15th 2010 to help Andy's Mom get her home back!

Every penny donated will go directly toward helping Cecelia Correa get a roof over her head again -after losing everything in the Chile disaster. If you can donate -even just a little, it will help! Five dollars doesn't sound like a lot, but it will go a long way in Chile. Thank You!!!!

To be entered into the giveaway, we are asking you to do one of two things or both:

1. Please post a link to this blog either on your blog or on a Facebook account etc. to help us get the word out. (worth one entry) Also, please email us with the subject "iPod" to let us know you've posted a link!! (friendsofceceliacorrea@gmail.com).

2. Please donate -even a dollar. Every penny helps! (worth 3 entries).

We will be including everyone who has already donated to help Cecelia rebuild her home - and thank you those of you who have helped!. If you would like to donate, please click on the PayPal Link or send your donation to the address listed on this blog. You will automatically be entered into the giveaway.

We really appreciate everyone who has already donated. Every dollar will go directly towards helping Cecelia Correa and her son (Andrea Dietz's dear family) to get back into their home. (The iPod was not purchased with any donated money.)

The drawing will be held and winner announced on this blog Friday, May 15th 2010. The drawing will be completely random. We appreciate any and all donations! This giveaway is strictly to say thank you as we raise money to help our dear friends and family in Chile who lost everything. Your information will not be sold.

Thank you so much for your help and support!

Break down of the costs...

The following are the costs broken down. A friend of Andrea's family who is familiar with building has finished a cost analysis and told us that the rebuilding portion of the house will cost us between $6,500 and $7000.00 in USA dollars depending on how much of the roof we are going to replace. These prices would have been only about $4,000 or so before the earthquake.

The following costs are in chilean pesos first and then divided by 525 pesos equaling one USA dollar. That figure will vary day to day depending on the strength of the dollar compared to the pesos in Chile. This does not include the fee charged for exchanging money. Also on April 15 the dollar had fallen to around 516 pesos and I do not know what it will be at the time they go down there.

Rebuilding Home:

Roof, walls, windows, doors and flooring etc. - $6,500.00 to $7,000 (USA dollars)

Bathroom fixtures:

Toilet - $38,000 pesos or $72.38
Showerhead/water heater combo - $77,000 pesos or $146.67
Shower stall - 120,000 pesos or $228.57
Sink - $38,000 pesos or $72.38
Total for Bathroom - $273,000 pesos or $520.00

Kitchen cabinets and appliances:

Refrigerator - 198,000 pesos or $377.14
Stove/oven - $406,000 pesos or $773.33
(includes some cabinets around them)
Cabinets $295,000 pesos or $561.90
Clothes washer - $120,000 pesos or $228.57
(under cabinet in kitchen typical of Chile)
Sink/faucett - $46,500 pesos or $88.57
Total for Kitchen - $945,000 pesos or $1800.00

Furnishings:(does not include dressers)

Futon/sofa - $150,000 pesos or $285.71
Dining room table with 4 chairs - $150,000 pesos or $285.71
Queen bed set - $190,000 pesos or $361.91
Twin bed set - $140,000 pesos or $266.67
Total - $630,000 pesos or $1,200.00

Total cost detailed so far $10,520.00

Earthquakes in divers places...

Her story...

Around two weeks before the earthquake, Andrea Dietz (daughter of Cecelia Correa) had a troubling dream about her mother. She became worried that something was going to happen and even thought it might be an earthquake which is common to that area of the world. So she tells her mother to prepare herself with food and water.

On February 27, 2010 Cecelia Correa and her two sons are awakened in the middle of the night from the terrifying earthquake that registered as an 8.8 and centered near Concepcion, which her city of Talcahuano is located next to.

Terrified and not sure what to do Cecelia and her neighbors hear the local police driving around in their cars telling the people to stay where they are and that there was no danger of a tsunami. But Cecelia's neighbor that lived two doors down tells her he thinks they should leave anyway just to be safe so they head for higher grounds in the hills where a sister of her neighbor lives.

It is hard to imagine running as fast as you can in the dark trying to dodge the debris from the earthquake and worrying about a tsunami. After they had traveled some distance, but not too long from the time of the earthquake, the tsunami does hit them and comes up to their waists. Later they found that back in their neighborhood the tsunami had reached up to the ceilings. Some of their neighbors who did not leave lost their lives from the tsunami and it further damaged their homes even more than what the earthquake had done.

Cecelia and her two sons spent a frightening and cold night without shelter in the hills. The only thing Cecelia had time to grab was her wallet. They had no clothes but what they were wearing or food or medicine. There was no room in the house of her neighbors sister which was crowded with people. But this kind neighbors sister does bring them food. They were in shock, crying and still frightened by the aftershocks and what was to become of them. Andrea's brother Juanito was without his asthma medicine and Cecelia without some of her medicine as well.

Meanwhile in the United States Andrea receives a phone call at around 11:30 pm Friday night from her mother-in-law who had seen on the news that an 8.8 magnitude earthquake had hit her country. Andrea's worst fears had come true. A frantic and sleepless night was spent trying to call her family and worrying about them. Then news comes that a seven foot tsuanmi had hit her city of Talcahuano 23 minutes after the earhtquake had hit. Were her mother and brothers still alive?

Saturday only brings more bad news and many tears as she sees the destruction of her city and country and is still unable to find out anything about them. She comes into contact with the cousin of her youngest brother who has not heard from them but promises to look. She hears that homes in her neighborhood are pretty much destroyed.

Saturday evening her family on her husbands side decides to have a special fast and prayer for Andrea's family. On Sunday evening Andrea and Martin are contacted by Q TV Fox News and they interview Andrea about what she is going through. Privately they tell her that they will also pray for her. Many other people also join in with their prayers. On Sunday as the family closes their fast with a prayer it is asked that Andrea might hear quickly any news about her family.

On Monday, in Chile, a girl from Andrea's old ward in the LDS Church goes out to the hills looking for people she might know and comes across Cecelia Correa and finds out she is ok as well as Andrea's two brothers Juanito and Fernando, but they are still in shock and suffering. Then upon returning home she finds that her electricity comes on just for a short while during which she was able to get into contact via the internet with Andrea and let her know that her family had survived the earthquake.

The family home has suffered alot of damage. The walls inside are all destroyed from the tsunami and all of their belongings are damaged or missing. They have lost everything except that which was most important which is their lives.

A bank account has been set up for anyone that would like to donate to it so that in May or June the home can be rebuilt and some supplies and belongings that they lost can be replaced. All of the money donated will be used for this purpose. Andrea's family in the United States are donating their time, Martin's payroll and plane tickets for Andrea, Martin and her father-in-law to go down there and help her rebuild the family home. There have been a couple of others who also expressed a desire to help in this endeavor in going over to Chile if they are able to at the time. There have been others who also want to help out financially in this, which is why we have set up the account.

Any donation however big or small will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Friends of Cecelia Correa