WCCN raises funds for victims of Hurricane Felix
WCCN hosted a benefit concert on October 4th, in response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Felix. Seven groups donated their talents at the event, which was dubbed Think Globally, Jam Locally. It was held at Madison’s Crystal Corner Bar, and owner David Day waived the room charge and brought in a sound technician at his own expense, which contributed significantly to the cause. Numerous Madison-area businesses also donated goods to a silent auction. Despite being put together on short notice and without a lot of advertisement, the concert was a huge success, netting over $1400 toward WCCN’s hurricane relief efforts.
The music was great, too! The opening band was folk-rock-flavored Gene Therapy, which includes WCCN’s Outreach Coordinator and newsletter editor, Steve Herrick. The other performers included jam band Yokanizu Project, the Peter Gabriel-like music of Subvocal, indie-rock from Goat Radio, humorous music from Ken Lonnquist, spectacular island rock from David Hecht and Primitive Culture (featuring a WCCN investor on bass!) and the unique klezmer rock of Reptile Palace Orchestra.
Felix, a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall on September 4th, just south of the Nicaraguan-Honduran border in a region historically known as the Mosquito Coast. At least 133 deaths have been attributed to Felix. In Puerto Cabezas, nearly every structure sustained at least roof damage, and many buildings were destroyed. Puerto Cabezas is a municipality in the North Atlantic Coast department, which is indigenous lands. Final reports from the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention (SINAPRED) in Nicaragua indicate that 37,745 families (188,726 people) were affected. Assessments report 19,506 damaged houses and 13,338 destroyed latrines. 11,433 wells were completely destroyed. Approximately 13,500 people were evacuated. Roads, schools, health facilities, the main pier in Puerto Cabezas and the control tower of Bilwi airport were damaged. SINAPRED is coordinating the initial rehabilitation and rebuilding of schools, as well as providing school supplies for students and teachers in the communities of Bilwi and Waspam. 427,000 hectares of agricultural land and forests were destroyed. The livelihoods of the people living in these areas are based on a subsistence economy, which this storm has put at risk.
The immediate damage from the wind and rain is obvious, but the ongoing problem is flooding. Many international agencies are responding to the devastation. A good resource is http://helpnicaragua.blogspot.com/2007/09/organizations-helping-nicaraguas-relief.html, where you can follow the relief efforts. There are also photos there that will give you some sense of the level of the catastrophe. Another highly informative site is http://www.envio.org.ni.
WCCN has sent $6,000 to Habitar, a well-respected non-profit housing organization with which we have worked for the past four years. Our contribution will be going to the remote indigenous village of Auhya Pihni to rebuild houses. We hope to bring you progress reports from time to time in this newsletter.