LA GUAIRA, Venezuela ¨C The command center hums with activity as radios crackle to life, medical staff stop in to say hello and supplies are arranged in orderly piles.
Though this organization would not be out of place at a military barracks overseen by generals, the deployment is taking place at the ¡°Republic of Panama¡°?school in La Guaira, the Venezuelan state hardest hit by twin earthquakes last week, and the commanders ¡ª casually dressed volunteers ¡ª are between 20 and 27 years old. Their task is the management of a shelter for survivors of the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which devastated this part of the South American country after striking less ?than a minute apart, killing more than 2,200, according to the latest tally.
The dozen or so staff ¡ª members of the youth wing of Venezuela¡¯s socialist party ¡ª have designed a digital system to register residents, most of ?whom have ?lost loved ones, their homes, or both in the disaster. The volunteer team is also largely homeless after the quakes, and rotate work shifts to staff the command center 24 ?hours a day. Like other shelter residents, they sleep in a classroom stuffed with metal bunk beds delivered by the commerce ministry. The group¡¯s system has information about each of the more than 350 people staying at the shelter, where an average of three families sleep per classroom. The program records their previous addresses, injuries, and who has yet to grab lunch in the cafeteria.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.