Monday, May 3, 2010

Great News from Chile

Save The Waves is in Pichilemu, Chile, administering a small grants program for local independent fishermen to get their boats back in the water after tsunami & earthquake damages. Many coastal towns in Chile have lost entire fishing fleets, including boats, motors, nets and other gear. We've shared much solidarity with Chile's artisan fishermen over the years through our campaigns against pulp mill and sewage pollution. We're now very happy to assist these fearless ocean advocates in a time of their greatest needs. We are now supporting the fishing communities of 5 different coastal towns near the tsunami epicenter:


A damaged "panga" before it gets fixed up with a STW micro-grant.



Fiberglass boat repairs - grassroots style.



Taking a break after finally getting the motor reattached back onto a repaired boat.



The boat motor repair shop - many boats lost their motors in the tsunami and we helped rebuild this repair shop damaged in the 8.8 earthquake.



The freshly-fixed finished product: just add sea water, nets, fish and fearless fishermen! All photos by Philip Muller. Stay tuned for more news soon about our new programs in organic gardening and student scholarships for Chile!

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