Minivans for Italy Earthquake relief activities

The land in Central Italy keeps on shaking. After the disastrous events of the 24^th August 2016 which caused extensive damages to many villages in the area, on the 26^th and 30 October 2016 two strong earthquakes have seriously affected another area in Central Italy, causing serious collapses to many architectonical treasures of the Italian artistic and religious heritage and damaging hundreds of houses.
The regions affected (Umbria, Lazio and Marche) are internationally famous for its gastronomic and cultural traditions and they are now facing not only the emergency of supporting thousands of displaced families, but also the necessity to rebuild in short times the local economy based on tourism.

Since the first earthquake in August, IBO Italia has been supporting the relief activities of FederGev Emilia Romagna, one of the many Italian associations involved in emergency activities under the coordination of the national Civil Protection Department.

Immediatley after the 24^th August earthquake, FederGev had been committed in providing relief support in Montegallo, a little village in the province of Ascoli Piceno. Montegallo has more or less 600 inhabitants, living in the core village and in 25 little hamlets surrounding the main centre.

Damages caused to buildings were very heavy. The highly fragmented territory and several roads hampered by landslides made the rescue operations and assistance very challenging. A continuous technical assistance was necessary for the transport of equipment and housing units. Since the 25^th of August the population has been hosted in the relief camps of Civil Protection in the hamlets of Uscerno, Abetito and Balzo and assisted until the 15^th October, when the majority of inhabitants came back to their homes or arranged theirselves in a new home outside the area affected by the earthquake.

The new violent earthquakes on 26^th and 30 October have caused countless premises collapses, many churches and cultural buildings had been seriously damaged and the majority of the private houses in the 197 municipalities affected are unfit for people to live in. The last earthquakes has definitevely damaged Montegallo and almost all the inhabitants are actually hosted in tourist facilities on the Adriatic coast. At the moment in Montegallo the Emilia-Romagna Civil Protection agency have installed mobile structures for hosting the Municipality, the Church, a pharmacy and a medical clinic.

Since the last earthquakes, FederGev has been supporting the local population in Foligno, Caldarola and San Severino Marche municipalities where relief camps have been installed.

Due to the coming winter and the low temperature, the Civil Protection Department has decided to host the inhabitants in the tourist facilities on the coast (far about 40 – 80 kilometres) avoiding to host them in temporary tents in the relief camps.

During the day, many people move from the coast to their homes to collect things, to monitor the situation and to meet other fellow countrymen. The relief camps serves meals for these people, provide medical assistance and they are a reference point where trained personnel can listen and support the affected population.

The real challenge for the local authorities in these areas, characterized by hundreds of small hamlets, is on one hand to ensure the safety and hospitality for those who have lost their homes and on the other hand to restore the social and economic context of each single community to prevent, on the long term, the depopulation of the affected areas.

IBO Italia and FederGev have ongoing contacts with the municipality of Caldarola to support the inhabitants providing basic needs and temporary housing solutions. We are planning meetings with voluntary organizations, local enterpreneurs and private citizens with the aim to develop projects responding to the real necessities of the local population.

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