Minkanews July 1, 2008-07-01 This page to be redirected to [080701earthquake].
Have we done enough for the victims – Peru earthquake August 2007?[]
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Walking the line – the latest historical therapy Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and the UK.[]
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Articles in this section are archived in Minkapedia http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Minkapedia, where you can participate in joint-editing online.
Have we done enough for the victims – Peru earthquake August 2007?[]
Next month on August 15, 2008 a whole year will have passed since the Peruvian earthquake devastated a wide area 200 miles south of Lima.
Virtually chance encounters this week brought Minkanews into contact – on separate, distinct occasions – with Pedro, Jaime and Cynthia. These great people, ranging in age from 25 to 50 one estimates, all provided inspirational interludes in the otherwise humdrum life of a London hack (periodista). Pedro is from the Peru-Bolivia borderlands, Jaime is a longer established British-Peruvian and Cynthia is from this side of the Atlantic. They have all been spending great tranches (slices) of their spare time in projects, which will be, or have already been, beneficial to Peru and its diaspora. Pedro is a health professional dedicated to caring for mentally and physically handicapped patients but in his scarce spare time contributes to the vibrant Peruvian dance scene in the UK, keeping us in contact with some of our principal cultural roots. Jaime’s slogan is “Routes! Roots! Rootes!” and Cynthia kept reminding me about the Peruvian earthquake and that we should do something about the first anniversary which is fast approaching on 15 August 2008. The last shall be first: names and sometimes gender have been changed in order to provide privacy but friends I guess will guess.
EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION[]
The Peru Earthquake Reconstruction Network (PERN), is a reincarnation of the Peru Earthquake Aid Committee – PEAC had several fund-raising events in London and contributed to the emergency expenditures and reconstruction of three schools in the Chincha and Huancavelica areas.
PERN’s project tries to answer the question “What can I do 8,000 miles away in London, Paris or perhaps elsewhere in Europe for the 3 “R”s: Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Regeneration following the emergency phase of the earthquake?
August 15 2008 will be the first anniversary of the earthquake and it is hoped that the (originally) PEAC longer term project for the 3R’s (which PERN is now promoting) will be able to get into a higher gear 15/8/08 with perhaps overdrive clicking in August 15 2009.
The original PEAC project for the 3R’s (say from 1 year to 5 years) was launched at a meeting in the House of Commons on October 15 2007. The longer term project was concerned with collaborative research which would be of benefit to the earthquake zone. You can collaborate in this project online (no expenditure of money) at http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/010708earthquake which uses the online journal launched at the meeting in Parliament .
THE POWER OF WALKING[]
Lay claim to the countryside - identity walking (Article title in Minkapedia: Walking the line – the latest historical therapy Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and the UK. Note that this is a semi-fictionalised account)
What on earth is this? Jaime held up the map as we sat sharing a cappuccino (ref: see the history of the Hooded-Chinese). He didn’t deny that contact with the earth is important and he jabbed his finger at a dotted line, which appeared to be drawn from London to the South Coast! Two thousand years ago that dotted line was very much a real road linking the Roman military and commercial harbour of Magnus Porto (Bosham / Fishbourne) to London Bridge. Four years ago the website http://www.ecdperu.plus.com/ecdperu/index.htm had suggested parallel walking down the invisible zero longitude line from Greenwich at the same time that another group was making its way – exactly one fifth of the way round the world at 72 degrees west -- from the Urubamba in the seja de selva, passing through Cuzco, and so to Mollendo on the Pacific coast. This week we are beginning to plot out a route following the old Roman road of Stane Street.
The other day we had discussed the idea of routes to our roots (rutas a nuestros raizes) in the context of Caral, Chavin and Stonehenge. Jaime has been the great advocate of journeying outside London in order to recharge our cultural batteries. Two items, which he has pioneered, are “seaside” and “solstice”. Now in this proposal, the Roman Road from London Bridge to the great port (Magnus Porto) on the South Coast will be the locus of our endeavours to flesh out identity. The trick: to investigate an identity trajectory via local or regional history. Or to put it another way, if you do not identify with a place delve into its history. Once you have walked from London to the coast along what remains of the Roman road you will begin to feel – at least in some small measure – that the countryside belongs to you. For more information http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/010708walks