“My biggest fear is that the house falls on us”

24.04.2014. Managua, Nicaragua. By Andrea Núñez-Flores Rey.

We went to “Villa Vallarta” one of the most excluded places from Managua. This neighborhood is in front of Lake Managua, epicenter of earthquakes.
The “houses” are slums made of zinc sheets, without any structures; on the streets there are a lot of rubbish and trash; also power lines and trees. In this neighborhood 292 children live, according to our partner, CAPRI.

We meet with 13 children in order that they tell me their experiences of the earthquake. “I was in my backyard when everything started to shake and I heard a horrible noise. I got scared and hid under the chair”, explains Yersin, a 12-year-old boy who looks sad. “My biggest fear is that the house falls on us because it is in very bad conditions and on it there is a very large tree”.

His sister, Sheyling (8), explains that “a sheet of zinc fell inside the house. I was inside with my mom and was very afraid. The entire house was shaking”.

The technique of CAPRI, Ligia Fargas, explains that “we have visited house per house and have trained community leaders in disaster preparedness and response to an earthquake. We have identified the safest places in all houses. Then, we explained them the evacuation route."

“If there’s an earthquake, we have to go to an empty space. But we have to be quiet, not to run and not to panic”, says Rachel, a 7 year-old girl.

“They also told us the evacuation route to the park, because it is the safest neighborhood site, because here there are many overhead cables and trees”, says Junior, a 10 year-old kid.

”I am also too scared to sleep in the house because I do not know if it will resist. Moreover, as we are so close to the lake , all the children are afraid, because if  the water level raises, we will drown . However, the water level has dropped 16 meters”, he explains. Children are very well-informed and aware of the security measures.

Yersin ‘s mother explains that “we have a lot of fear, but at least , as we are informed, we feel safer. Lot of people were afraid when the first earthquake happened because they did not know what to do. I had just returned from church and my daughter was in the house. I thought she could die. I felt so desperate; but then I realized that is the will of God if he wants to take her”. (In Nicaragua, most people are very very religious).
“I did not sleep all night, I was taking care of my children, who could not sleep until late. The first days, they did not want to eat or play. They are very nervous, sad and scared . ‘We have slept all these days in the yard because the house is not safe”.

“I was in school when the first earthquake and we went to the playground with the teacher. We already knew what we have to do because we do a simulation every year. The school was closed this week but, finally, on Monday we can go again, although we still have the red alert. But I want to go to the school because it is safer”, says Tamira, a 9-year-old girl.

CAPRI’s technician told us that this neighborhood is very poor, there are a lot of child workers, there were no organized leaders and many children were not registered at birth. “We work in this neighborhood for a long time. In addition to the emergency response, we try to educate parents about the need for children to attend school and to enroll them in the civil registry. There is a 14-year-old boy who now studies 4th grade of elementary school because he is a child worker and had no identity card.

We also do trainings for community leaders on many issues (like good parenting, health, child workers), and they explain it to the people of the community. Next Saturday, we start with recreational activities for children, so they can play and lose the stress because they feel a lot of anxiety and sadness by the earthquake.  In this way, maybe they are happier and calmer”