El Monte is a small municipality about 20 km from Melipilla. 2 of our build sites are located in this neighbourhood, where the houses were severely damaged by the Feb 27 earthquake. Our task today was to finish the living room addition to the house owned by an 80 year old man named Oscar. Habitat Chile is presently working on 15 houses in this area as part of the rebuilding efforts. Some of the repairs and additions were started last month in partnership with Delta Airlines volunteers.
In this house, Oscar lives with his 3 grown sons. There are holes and gaps in the roof. A shower stall is located outside the main house and can be accessed through the backyard. A toilet is located separately in an outhouse. Many of my teammates felt that the building approach was rather piecemeal, as we were adding a new living room to the existing dilapidated structure.
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| The kitchen/dining room of Oscar's existing house |
It is difficult to imagine how 4 grown men live together in a small house of such shabby conditions. In comparison, Cristobal's house is much nicer. On the other hand, Oscar's house is still equipped with running water and sewage network, and is by no means a slum. It is all relative.
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| The exterior of the house with the new addition |
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| An egg vendor going door-to-door in the neighbourhood |
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