MIAMI — The Rev. Emilio Chaviano spent Jan. 29 in Café Talón, a camp housing more than 10,000 families displaced by the Jan. 13 earthquake in El Salvador. He said that experience and visits to other areas were overwhelming.

"Café Talón is a field the size of four or five football fields, and there’s row after row of tents and each tent is assigned to one family," he said. "The emotional impact is beyond words…I never expected to react so emotionally."

Chaviano is an elder of the Florida Conference and chaplain with the United States Air Force. He is serving with the United States Southern Command in Miami, which is responsible for military and humanitarian operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Last month, the commander of the United States military in El Salvador invited him to provide pastoral counseling for the military personnel and their families in the wake of the earthquake.

"The Army commander, Col. John Goetchius, is married to a Salvadoran woman," Chaviano said. "He was experiencing the pain firsthand because he has extended family in San Salvador. He called me last Thursday night and asked me to come, begged me to come."

Chaviano spent his first day touring affected areas and relief camps set up by the Salvadoran military and international relief groups.

"I saw whole neighborhoods buried by rocks that fell down from the mountains…a field full of destroyed automobiles and vehicles. They looked like twisted toys. They had been buried by landslides, then excavated and placed in this field," he said. "I never thought the force of dirt coming down from a mountain could do that."

The earthquake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, killed more than 700 people and injured another 4,000, according to news services.

In addition to visiting Café Talón, which is run by the Salvadoran military, Chaviano visited Las Delicias, a soccer field that has been converted to a refugee camp and field hospital by a group from the Dominican Republic. He also met a delegation from the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico that was there to assess the situation and find the best way for its church to respond.

Conditions in the camps were good in terms of cleanliness and sanitation, according to Chaviano, but he says that may change in the next two months when the winter rainy season begins. "It’s going to be more of a hardship living in those tents," Chaviano said. "The fields will flood and that will make it very, very tough."

On Jan. 30, Chaviano spent the day dealing with the emotional impact the disaster has had on United States military personnel, their families and civilian employees at the United States embassy in San Salvador. Although he expected 24 people to attend two sessions, Chaviano said 35 people showed up for the morning session and 50 attended the afternoon session.

Although most people he spoke to were not directly affected by the earthquake, many were married to Salvadorans whose families and friends were affected. "They have lost because other people have lost, because the rest of the country has lost," Chaviano said. "I spoke to a couple of soldiers who lost Salvadoran friends…men they played baseball with. These men, they cried in public, telling the story of how they lost their friends."

Chaviano said people are also dealing with feelings of guilt because they survived.

"There’s also a lot of hopelessness and fear that another earthquake will devastate the city," he said. "Children do not want to sleep or be alone in their bedrooms at night because of the fear."

The political parties in the Salvadoran government are bickering and fighting over how to distribute the aid and who is going to get credit for it. "The people are hurt that the political parties are taking advantage of the tragedy for their own gain," Chaviano said. "It adds to the hopelessness. ‘Who’s going to help us?’ "

Chaviano believes the church has a "real role" to play in the relief efforts because of the political situation. "It’s a lot easier for the church to send work groups and financial help than for the government to go through the official channels," he said. "Church organizations can respond much quicker. There is a need for churches to send teams and help people build new homes."

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has established an Advance for relief efforts in El Salvador. Donations can be given through local United Methodist churches. Include "UMCOR Advance #511447-8" and designate "El Salvador Earthquake" on the memo line of your check. To give credit card donations, call 1-800-554-8583.