Support for Earthquake Victims in Oaxaca

Art by Hilda Palafox

In an effort to take an active role in supporting causes we care about, Miha is donating 100% of profits from select products each month to a worthy cause. 

In the month of July, we will be donating the profits from the sales of our Palm Purses to support earthquake victims via a Go Fund Me organized by our friend Samuel Bautista Lazo. You can learn more about Samuel and his family HERE or donate directly to the Go Fund Me HERE.

Last week, on June 23rd, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Oaxaca, with the epicenter on the coast causing the most grave damage in the Oaxaca's coastal range, a region called San Juan Ozolotepec. Many of the primarily adobe dwellings in this area did not withstand the tremors, which caused damage to some 200 buildings. 

Please learn more about the region, and the ways this campaign plans to help:

(words by Samuel Bautista Lazo)

Ozolotepec means the place of the Ocelots, these towns lay in the Southern Sierra of Oaxaca, a great hub of Biodiversity that is threatened by loggers and has been long neglected by state and federal governments, it was only after this earthquake that a state governor set foot in these towns so you can imagine the degree of neglect and help needed. 

 

We know that governments are slow and bureaucratic, certainly their actions would not be enough I am starting this campaign to channel funds to meet the needs of the towns. There are already collections of food, clothes and blankets.

 

However, I would like to focus on three aspects:

 

- Buying native corn and beans to supply the towns instead of canned foods. If possible a get some cattle or a few goats-- if need be. 

 

- Buying a load of tin sheets so that people can start building their temporary shelters. 

 

- Buying a batch of geo-mesh to start rebuilding sample Adobe homes resistant to earthquakes. https://youtu.be/lthMpMc1S8k 

 

- Buying a batch 1000 yard super adobe roll from Cal-Earth to build a Super Adobe home demonstration.  https://www.calearth.org/intro-superadobe

 

I know this might not be enough for all the needs of the towns but it could show the government what can be done. 

 

If you have ever visited Oaxaca and were moved by its culture and its people this is the time to chip in to help this people rebuild their homes and keep protecting this mountains of the Southern Sierra. The Ocelots alongside the Jaguars are endangered due to environmental destruction and it might be that this quake in the area is a wake up call for us as earthlings of this planet to wake up and take greater action to restore the life supporting systems of our planet. This people have chosen to live in harmony with nature and now it is time to help them rebuild their earth homes. 

 

Shtiusenyoubiu - Our word for thank you in Dixzaa (Zapotec) language translates as the divinity within you.

 

While relief funds are being sent now for emergency food and shelter, the rebuilding process will be a long one. We hope our contributions at the end of the month of July will assist in the rebuilding of these communities in a sustainable way, as outlined by Sam above. 

Thank you!