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Chalco Clean up (video)

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It’s day 10 after the flood, and the cleanup is just beginning.  That’s partly because a lot has still been under water until today.  Now that the water is receding, the cleanup can begin.

This morning we went as a family with some people from our church to help serve breakfast.  The highway is still closed, and it looks like there’s still some work to do before it opens.  However, cars that were totally underwater are being pulled out.

In Chalco, those who have houses free of water (and there are a lot still full of water, even on streets that are dry) are sweeping them out and throwing their ruined belongings on the street to be collected.

Here’s a quick video to show the progress that’s being made.


Thanks so much to those who contacted us recently wanting to donate some food to the flood victims!  If you’re willing to help, just send a cheque to CAM International or CAM International of Canada (details here), mentioning project #062250.  Then let us know, that way we can spend the money without waiting for it to go through "the system".

Chalco Flood – Day 9!

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Imagine having a metre or two of sewage water in your house for 9 DAYS.  You have nowhere to take a bath, nothing to cook with, and no food even if you could cook it.

This is day 9 after the water flooded into Chalco, a few minutes from our house, after heavy rains hit Mexico.  The disaster affected thousands of people.  The houses will never be the same.

In some areas where the water has receded, you can see how bad things actually are.  The sewage water rushed into people’s houses and pooled in there, now leaving filthy sewage sludge in each house.  Bed, fridges, clothes, stoves, TVs, microwaves … many things are now just garbage, to be left in the street and hauled away.

One of the concerns, naturally, is that disease is spreading because of the conditions.  Skin deseases and "pink eye" are the biggest concerns at the moment.

Despensa for a family in Chalco

I took some brief footage today (just over 2 minutes) to show you how the water has receded in some areas, though if you look close you can still see people in boats and a car with water up to the middle of its windows.  Some cleanup has begun, though it’s amazing how little help there has been.

You can also see, at the beginning, people from our church serving hot breakfasts and lots of people enjoying them.

Once the water goes down, we hope to be able to give out some pre-boxed provisions (despensas) door to door.  If you would like to help, these are around $10 each – please contact us if you’re interested in providing one or more.  This one pictured above is a typical despensa.  It contains basic food supplies.

Discovering the Songs of Christmas… in February!

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This past week, my Dad (Robert Cottrill) was featured in The Battlefords News-Optimist newspaper in Saskatchewan, Canada.  He’s a regular columnist in this and many other newspapers.  This time they were writing an article about him, due to the publication of Discovering the Songs of Christmas.

Due to various issues the book didn’t make it out for Christmas 2009, but of course it’s now ready well in advance for Christmas 2010!

News-Optimist column on Robert Cottrill

We got a copy only a few days ago, and have really enjoyed it so far!  It’s full of interesting stories and insights – I’ve learnt a lot already.  🙂

You can get the book at amazon here: Discovering the Songs of Christmas: Meditations on Our Traditional Carols and Christmas Hymns

Flooding getting worse (more videos)

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In spite of the fact that there hasn’t been any rain in the last few days, in some areas the flooding actually seems to be getting worse.  This is because water is still pouring out of the sewage canal.  As our co-worker Rod put it, can you imagine sewage water in your refrigerator, your stove, your pantry?

Of course, if the water has gone down in your area, your fridge and stove may have been bulldozed out of the way, in an attempt to clean the streets.  The filth is a huge problem, made worse by the fact that people don’t have enough clean water.

The good news is, you can help!  Our mission has set up a specific project for the disaster relief.  Here’s what you can do…

To help flood victims

You can send a donation either to CAM International (in the USA) or CAM International of Canada.  Make a note with your donation that it’s for Project #062250.  For information on how to donate, click here.

Next, please let us know that you’ve donated.  Then we’ll be able to buy what we need right away, rather than waiting for your actual cheque to go through the system.

We’re already collecting items for our neighbours who have lost everything in this flood.  There’s also talk of setting up a kind of a soup kitchen to serve breakfast to people.

Even a few dollars would provide something – some clean water, a meal, etc.

More updates

Here are some more videos so you can see the current extent of the flooding here.  They’re in Spanish, but they still give you an idea even if you don’t understand the language.

But to give you an overview – people are concerned about disease with the lack of clean water.  If they have anything left, they’re concerned about looting, and so many have gone back to their houses, in spite of the growing danger from the sewage.

Recent news coverage:


From above (yes, those rivers used to be streets):

There’s also reports that more rain might be coming later this week.  Hopefully, this won’t happen.

Update on the Flood in our area…

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The flood waters are still high a few minutes down the road.  Because the sewage water is still draining, it’s been hard to make much progress getting the water out of the buildings and streets.

The President recently toured the area, which has been declared a disaster zone.  Apparently, many hundreds of homes in other parts of Mexico City were also flooded.  It adds up to several thousand homes in our state.

Obviously there is concern about the spread of disease in these areas.  And again, with sudden flooding like this, many people have lost everything – furniture, appliances, clothes, computers – everything awash in sewage water.

As a group here we hope to get some relief supplies tomorrow, and start distributing as soon as we can.  Obviously, it’s been hard thus far to get organized, with water levels still rising (although thankfully we haven’t had any more rain).

Cold and wind is also a concern – though hopefully the wind will help to dry things up.

If you’re interested in helping us provide relief supplies – even a few dollars will help – feel free to contact us by phone or email.  Thanks to those who are praying, and the couple who have already donated.

For videos and more details, see our last post Major Flooding (a few minutes away) (videos)

Anne and Holocaust Remembrance Day

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We just recently watched The Diary of Anne Frank – just finished watching last night.  We just discovered that the United Nations has declared today International Holocaust Remembrance Day, so it was an appropriate movie to watch, even though we didn’t know it!

For those that don’t know, Anne Frank was a young girl who kept a diary while in hiding in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) during World War II.  Her diary was published (I read it many years ago) and of course made into an award winning movie (and a recent mini-series, and many other things).

The only survivor of the group was Anne’s father Otto.

We also discovered that one of the people who helped hide Anne and the others just recently passed away – Miep Gies was 100 when she died on the 11th of this month.  Of the main characters in the movie, she was the last survivor.

Another of the people who helped hide the Franks and the others was Victor Kugler (Mr. Kraler), who moved with his family to Canada and died in Toronto in 1981.

In another of those oddities of history, there is actually brief film footage of Anne Frank herself – see it below.

The Netherlands was largely liberated by the Canadian army, another reason why Anne’s story is especially interesting – but the liberation was too late for so many.

Let’s remember those millions of people, murdered by so many other people, so many years ago.  We should never forget.

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