Costa Rican Red Cross Joins Tropical Storm Relief Efforts

THE Costa Rican Red Cross has sent volunteers, specialists and humanitarian aid to Guatemala and El Salvador, devastated last week by Tropical Storm Stan.“We do not yet have knowledge of all the elements, but this (relief) could last months – especially reestablishment of the water supply and food distribution,” Jorge Rovira, national assistant chief of aid and operations, told The Tico Times.According to Rovira, the Red Cross sent one specialist in logistics and another in damage evaluation to Guatemala on Monday on a 15-22 day mission. A Red Cross coordinator will accompany the specialists and remain in the country for three months, Rovira said.This week, the organization also sent two 12-ton trucks to El Salvador for water and food distribution, a dispatch solicited by the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and the German Red Cross – organizations that defined Costa Rica as the Central American base for disaster relief efforts, the Red Cross said in a statement.Costa Rican Red Cross Chief of Aid and Operations Guillermo Arroyo said the organization might send two more trucks to Guatemala. Twelve Red Cross volunteers were also dispatched to both countries to assist in the rescue mission. The Costa Rican Red Cross is accepting donations in colones to account number 176-003-3 and in dollars to 204-6 at the Bank of Costa Rica.–María Gabriela Díaz(See The Nica Times’ Central America page for more on the storm and its aftermath.)