Support Families After Fires in Mallin and Epuyèn

The Confluencia fire in Mallin Ahogado and the forest-interface fire in Epuyén together burned some 17,000 acres in January and February. Hundreds of people lost the homes they had been building by hand over many years, scraping together savings to buy things bit by bit. The area, nestled in the heart of Patagonia - called the “green lungs of the planet” - is also home to the largest network of mountain refuges in South America. The people who live in these places nurture a close relationship with the land. Reconstruction will be an uphill battle for them in a country with some of the world’s highest inflation rates and extremely low salaries. Kristin lives in Mallin Ahogado and often goes to Epuyén. Fluent in the dialect spoken in Argentina, Castellano, she is on the ground having one-on-one conversations with those affected by the fires and is busy assessing how to get help to the most vulnerable. In an article she wrote for LA Times in the midst of the fires, (“What it’s like for Californians caught in the Patagonia forest fires”) she offers an inside look at the area: “I live in Mallin Ahogado, a humble rural community nestled in the foothills of the Andes mountains just outside the mountain town of El Bolsón. For short, we call it Mallin, pronounced ‘mah-jheen,’ and its growth over the years has been disorganized and precarious. It lacks basic infrastructure, has no gas lines and no organized sewage or water. It is home to a diverse community of artists, Indigenous people, musicians, farmers, handicraft artisans and hippies interspersed with residents of various nationalities (my neighbors over the years have included Japanese, Austrian, British, Polish people), forming a unique, rural-cosmopolitan environment. Most of the people who live here built their homes bit by bit over a period of many years with their own hands, often using natural construction. Like them, I was drawn to the area by its stunning beauty, international vibe, native flora, and off-beat, eclectic community. A community now in a state of emergency.” We appreciate all you can do to help these families as winter nears. Temperatures are dropping and many still need a roof over their heads.