FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 2, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
‘Everything is destroyed’: Jackson Heights resident
visits Mexico in wake of historic earthquakes
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Jackson Heights resident Andrew
Sokolof watched the news in horror as
a 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico
on Sept. 8.
Sokolof, whose wife has family living
in the country, visited Mexico back in
January, and just seven months later,
large swaths of the country were reduced
to rubble.
“Just seeing the images on television
and my wife not being able to get
through to families, I thought maybe I
could go and help,” he said.
Th ough his extended family was safe,
Sokolof decided to help anyway and on
Sept. 21 landed in Mexico City. Th e country
had experienced another earthquake
on Sept. 19 — a 7.1 magnitude earthquake
that badly damaged central Mexico and
the states of Morelos and Puebla where at
least 216 people died.
President Enrique Penia Nieto said the
8.2 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 8,
2017, was the largest and most powerful
the country has seen in 100 years — even
compared to the deadly 8.1 magnitude
quake that hit Mexico City in 1985, killing
10,000 people.
Instead of staying in Mexico City, where
relief eff orts where already underway,
Sokolof decided to travel several hours to
areas that had not seen as much government
aid. He raised almost $2,000 from
friends and family through a GoFundMe
account and purchased supplies like
hygiene products and canned food.
Sokolof also bought construction
gloves, respirator masks, LED lights and
more for volunteers who were helping
with cleanup eff orts and to pull people
from the rubble. He traveled to towns like
San Antonio Alpanocan and Tochimilco
in the state of Puebla, and Jojutla and
Hueyapan in the state of Morelos.
“Everything is destroyed,” he said. “Th e
majority of every town’s structures are
damaged. It looked like bombs hit these
areas.”
Sokolof said people in the hard hit
areas were sleeping under makeshift tents
and were desperate for supplies including
medication and the most basic resources
like water.
“I thought that by now the Mexican
government would be responsive and
involved,” he said. “At this point they still
need everything — the basic food, water,
medicine and now they need psychological
help, too. A lot of them are aff ected
and traumatized by what happened.”
Relief eff orts in places like Jojutla are
almost exclusively coordinated by local
volunteers and young people driving to
town in caravans. Th e volunteers also do
not have proper tools for excavation but
are trying to do what they can to help.
“It smells of death,” Sokolof said in a
video posted on Facebook. “Volunteers
are basically taking us through the worst
parts and they have no tools. Th ey have
no machinery. Th ey’re basically pulling
bodies out of the rubble by hand. Th ey’re
ripping walls with their hands, with ropes
and with metal saws.”
He also said he was inspired to
see groups like Lazos en Acción and
Volunteer Brigade 55 in action.
“I can’t also forget how inspiring it was
to see the caravans of volunteers on the
remote roads riding out into these ancient
towns and villages to help their people
and leave their jobs and responsibilities
behind,” Sokoloff told QNS.
Some roads have been considerably
weakened aft er the earthquakes, causing
volunteers to take alternative routes
or completely cancel trips for fear of collapsing
roads.
“A lot of the pueblos up in the mountains
were already cobblestone or very
badly paved roads so there was a lot of
obstruction,” he said. “Some roads were
so damaged that we were told not to visit
those towns so that we did not contribute
to cutting them off .”
It has also been reported that since elections
are coming up, government offi -
cials have been taking supplies from volunteers
and distributing them to specifi c
constituents to ensure they receive votes.
“I saw one road blocked near Morelos’
main highway,” Sokolof said. “Th ey have
huge trucks taking all the donations from
the volunteers and saying, ‘We’re gonna
store it in these warehouses. We know
where other towns need it more than you
guys.’”
Sokolof said residents are mistrustful of
the government and are used to “having
to deal with things on their own” but still
want to see more action.
“It’s kind of just aid groups coming in
and fi lling the gaps,” he said. “It’s not
enough.”
As of earlier this month, the death toll
had risen to 369 people, CBS News reported.
Sokolof, who kept in touch with people
on the ground, said residents have started
getting desperate and depressed and some
have reportedly committed suicide.
According to Sokolof, some Mexicans,
aware of how long the recovery process
would take, said things like, “You guys
are here now, but in three months people
are going to forget that this happened
and we’re gonna be struggling for years.”
Sokolof, a graduate student at Baruch
College, said he is planning another trip
to Mexico within the next few months
and would also like to visit Puerto Rico to
help with hurricane relief eff orts. He may
try to raise funds before he leaves and is
looking for any aid groups in Puerto Rico
who need his help. He can be reached at
andrewsokolof@gmail.com.
Sokolof also called on Queens residents
to “not forget” about the toll that these
events have taken on people.
“Th e media in general is not covering
or visiting these areas and government
involvement in the most remote areas is
completely lacking,” Sokolof said. “Th e
support that the aff ected people need
again is long term and perhaps pressure
from the immigrant community here,
including the undocumented who don’t
have a political voice here but do back
home and can vote from local consulates,
can make an impact in the upcoming
Mexican elections.”
Th e Hispanic Federation is raising
funds for hurricane relief in Puerto
Rico and UNICEF Mexico and Save the
Children Mexico are coordinating relief
eff orts in Mexico.
Photos by Andrew Sokolof
Jackson Heights resident Andrew Sokolof (left) visited Mexico after several earthquakes reduced
parts of the country to rubble.