Rebuild Mocoa

We are Colombian students in the UK working in partnership with Children Change Colombia, in order to help the people of Mocoa.
Donate through our JustGiving page;
https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising /REbuildMocoa

#REbuildMocoa


What happened?

In the early morning of Saturday April 1st 2017, after a night of extremely heavy rain, a landslide swept away more than 17 neighbourhoods in South West Colombia -Mocoa.

At least 274 people have been killed and more than 263 are injured. The number of missing people has not been established and the damages are rising continuously. Countless families have been left homeless while the town is totally isolated, without electricity and water. The country has been declared in state of emergency after this tragedy.

Why has this happened?

Mocoa, the capital city of Putumayo, south Colombia has received thousands of displaced indigenous people during decades of conflict. This situation led to the settlement of unsafe houses on the bank of the rivers. As the peace process has only recently come to a successful conclusion in 2016, these populations are still living under the consequences of decades of unplanned urbanisation. Additionally, extreme weather caused by "La Niña”, a weather phenomenon that increases rainfall, is another central cause of this tragedy.

Tragically, children are the most affected group. Many of them have been left homeless and orphaned. Since many of them are from indigenous families, it will represent a major challenge to provide accurate and timely help, especially as they try to get their lives back on track after the tragedy.

Who are we?

We are Colombian students in the UK working in partnership with Children Change Colombia and the Colombian Embassy in London, who have come together to help raise funds to send to Mocoa in order to contribute to the state of emergency that our country is living right now.

Where are the collecting resources going?

All donations will be directed to Children Change Colombia, a UK registered charity with more than 25 years of experience working in Colombia to keep children safe and protect their rights in the long term. Children Change Colombia is currently working in Putumayo with their local partner organisation Casa Amazonia, which is based in Mocoa.

Children Change Colombia will make sure that the money donated will be spent in the best way to support the ongoing relief efforts in Mocoa, and will keep us informed about how our donations are being spent.
For donations please follow this link:

https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising /REbuildMocoa

How will we use the resources?
Our aim is to go beyond the immediate help for disaster relief, and contribute more with medium-term projects that help in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Mocoa. Therefore, the #REbuildMocoa Project will develop activities of fundraising during one month Once the target is reached (25, 000 pounds), the representatives from every University that compose the REbuildMocoa Project and Children Change Colombia will discuss to develop collaborative projects in Mocoa, according to the needs of the community identified by the NGO.

Our representative, Zulma Cucunubá is in charge of having a constant communication with Children Change Colombia and the team will constantly update the web page with important information regarding this issue.

If you want to know more about Children Change Colombia, please follow this link:
http://www. childrenchangecolombia.org/

Why is the campaign only receiving money as donations?
Transportation costs of other resources, as well as taxes and the overall procedure to send them to Colombia makes it more difficult to ensure a quick and effective response to the emergency. For further information, please follow this link (in Spanish):
http://portal. gestiondelriesgo. gov. co /

Who is in charge of handling the initiatives in each University?

On April 3th 2017, all the representatives from every university involved in #REbuildMocoa met and agreed to coordinate different student activities to raise funds and give account of their actions in relationship to the #REbuildMocoa project. Every initiative to raise funds is valid, yet each coordinator will ensure a consistency in the way they take place.