Dear friends,

Many of you will be contemplating the current situation of people in Chile after the catastrophic earthquake over the weekend and wondering what you might do to help. The Victor Jara Foundation here has begun a campaign to help with the recovery in the most affected areas of the country . More information on the Victor Jara Foundation is at the end of this message.

The Red Cross and other aid agencies have launched international appeals and we would not, under any circumstances, take away from those and their validity. However, we have an opportunity to target some additional help to the most affected areas of the country through our direct contacts. Specifically, we want to get funds to Concepción and surrounding areas, in particular Lota, the former Mining area and an area of high deprivation and are asking for your help in doing so. At the moment our challenge is reaching the contacts we have who can deliver direct community support in those areas.

The large aid agencies will undoubtedly do a fantastic job in assisting with the immediate emergency. Our hope is that we can add to the communities’ recovery by giving them support that large agencies cannot offer.

I would like to be able to tell you precisely how the money will be spent, but at the moment we can’t get contact with the individuals who we know can deliver community support with your money. Be assured that the money will be held in a separate sub–account of the Foundation and we will account for all of it. Joan Jara and the Victor Jara Foundation have agreed to the appeal and will help in any way to ensure that the funds reach their rightful place. The benefit of our donation is that we will be able to get direct feedback, see how the money we send has been spent and every penny will go to its destination.

Send what you can please, however small and please circulate this to your friends.

Payments can be made via bank transfer; the account details are as follows:

Victor Jara Foundation UK A/C No 21380562 Sortcode: 50-30-09 Natwest Bank

If you do a bank transfer please email diane.dixonb@btinternet.com so that we can account for it.

Kind regards

Diane Dixon

Chair, Víctor Jara Foundation UK

The Victor Jara Foundation UK is the sister charity of the Chile based Fundación Víctor Jara which was created in the name of Chile’s best known singer-songwriter who was murdered in the military coup in 1973. The Foundation exists to preserve the memory of Víctor’s artistic heritage and works on a range of cultural and human rights projects.

Victor Jara Foundation UK Registered Charity No 1071355 Company No 3555860

Registered Office Richman & Co 293 Kenton Lane, Harrow Middx HA3 8RR0

UPDATE: Monday 12th April, 2010

Many thanks again to all of you who have donated to our appeal for funds that are being directed to the former mining community of Lota in the South of Chile. We have already collected more than £6000 and are still aiming for more. We have been helped enormously by our contact with José Luis Díaz, community activist, former miner and refugee in Scotland, in our efforts to assist those most affected by the quake; hence the development of the project described below. We hope you agree that it is very worthy of our support.

If you are able to help in any other way, we would be much obliged. We will keep you informed of the project’s progress.

Best regards
Diane Dixon
Victor Jara Foundation UK

The Víctor Jara Foundation is working closely with people in Lota, an ex-mining town in the south of Chile which has been very badly affected by the earthquake of the 27 February this year.

After consultation with people in the area, a joint project between the community and Technical Training Centre attached to the University of Concepción has been presented to the Foundation and approved for funding. We have raised more than £6,000 so far but are aiming for more.

A multi-disciplinary group of professionals will work with 50 families from two of the most affected areas of the town (La Veguita and 9 de Agosto) to assist them in mitigating the psychological and psycho emotional effects of the earthquake. A particular focus of the work will be children and young people. An important element of this intervention will be to help them develop mechanisms to deal with the frustration and anxiety that the earthquake has produced, as well as seeking to ensure that the effect on their short and long-term educational development is minimalised. The project will consist of individual family support in addition to interactive workshops, social education opportunities and recreational activities. The proposal has been well received at an initial meeting with people in the areas concerned.

We chose to work with Lota, in part because of the level of destruction suffered by the town, but, also, because we have a direct link to that community through a former Chilean refugee who lived in Scotland and worked in the mine in Lochgelly in Fife in the 1970s and 80s. José Luis Diaz and his wife, María, were activists in Scotland during their time there, taking part in the two miners’ strikes through the Scottish NUM and Women Against Pit Closures. They returned to Lota to dedicate their time and campaigning to residents of their native town, one of the poorest in the country.

Finally, a key part of the project we are supporting is that it will be delivered by young professionals, sons and daughters of ex-miners and residents in the area, whose firsthand experience of the magnitude of the issues facing the affected communities, both before and after the earthquake, will be invaluable in achieving maximum impact and outcomes.

Diane Dixon, Chair, Víctor Jara Foundation UK