erin taylor kennedy

There comes a moment when life calls you to volunteer. This is my time,” says Santiago Cartagena of the PMI Ecuador Chapter. For Santiago, the moment came after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador in 2016 killing at least 676 and injuring more than 16,000 people. 700,000 people needed immediate assistance with 90 percent of infrastructure destroyed in many areas. Affecting some of the poorest regions of the country, the earthquake left thousands of people displaced, including some of its most vulnerable. This was the worst natural disaster in the country’s history since 1949. Santiago and the PMI Ecuador Chapter knew they needed to do something to help.