Dear friends:

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your solidarity with the disaster caused by Hurricane Mitch in Central America. Responding to it, SEEDS immediately started several relief efforts and began planning a trip to the region to contribute with the reconstruction. The response was encouraging, many of you, from diverse disciplines have offered your time, your help, and your support to these initiatives. SEEDS organized a joint effort with the International Red Cross, with the World Relief Foundation, and the Central American Emergency Committee, so as to have full support and mentoring for all the participants.

As a result of these contacts, SEEDS identified several projects for participation. In yesterday's meeting, which counted with the Participation of officials from these organizations, SEEDS discussed the methods, objectives, and potential problems of the trips. The trips discussed were:

1. Trip to Honduras, coordinated jointly with the World Relief Foundation and the Zamorano College, working with the communities.

2. Trip to Nicaragua, coordinated by the Central American Emergency Committee, to plan the building of housing.

Because of time constraints, and with the intention of making SEEDS participation in the development of Central American region a long term endeavor, SEEDS has decided undertake the trip to Honduras as an exploratory visit to assess the current realities and propose strategies that focus on the following areas:

1. Infrastructure

2. Agriculture

3. Urban Planning

4. Health

5. Society and Education

6. Financial reconstruction

With this in mind, we will propose a strategy for reconstruction, and identify medium and long term collaboration, including upcoming events during Spring Break and Summer. SEEDS has contacted professors in MIT and the Harvard Medical School who have expressed firm intention of collaborating in long term workshops, and other activities that will be identified by the outcomes of the exploratory mission to Honduras.

After careful considerations and discussions, SEEDS has decided the following:

1. Because of time constraints, SEEDS can only coordinate the Honduran trip. Those of you who manifested interest in the Nicaraguan trip, please coordinate directly with the Central American Emergency Committee, with Guillermo Recinos D.M.D. , and Alida Bogran-Acosta, Attorney, Central American Emergency Relief in

Massachusetts. Dr. Guillermo Recinos telephone numbers: (617) 688-2734 and Alida's Email:abogran@ix.netcom.com. Maria Margarita Lopez, from the Dana Farber Center/Harvard Medical Teaching Hospitals, can also provide cooperation with the trip, her email: MLOPEZ@CISVX3.DFCI.HARVARD.EDU, tel: 617-632-3505. SEEDS will not be responsible in any way for this trip, but will like to keep informed about it.

2. SEEDS exploratory visit to Honduras will be coordinated in the following way:

a) A small group of individuals with expertise in the areas described above, and in disaster mitigation will go to the region on the first or second week of January 1999. This mission will be coordinated and led by Adriana Guzman, atguzman@mit.edu with Raquel Gomes, raquel@mit.edu, with the local coordination within MIT by Carlos Berner cberner@MIT.EDU. People interested in participating will be required to discuss their intentions and expertise with the SEEDS executive board today Thursday at 7:00pm in Toscanini's (84 Massachussetts Avenue, or via phone interviews arranged via email). The executive board will select the participation based on qualifications and other criteria, including identification with SEEDS values. Those of you interested please respond to atguzman@mit.edu or show up at Toscanini's.

b) SEEDS will cover only the flight expenses from Boston to Honduras, or its equivalent.

c) The people who cannot go on this trip will be encouraged to participate on upcoming activities trips as identified by SEEDS.

d) Students who will go will be required to complete MIT's liability "release form", which will be distributed by SEEDS executive board.

As you may understand, we want to provide help that is efficient and necessary, and we would not want to overwhelm or cause a burden unnecessarily. In order to do so, and after several deliberations in consultations we have decided to contain the exploratory visit to the areas discussed. We want to support any particular initiatives that you may have, and encourage you to submit your suggestions and ideas to seeds-exec@mit.edu. We want to thank all of you for your help and we look forward to having your active participation in SEEDS in the coming semester.

On behalf of SEEDS executive board, we also want to wish all you a merry Christmas and a successfull New Year.

Adriana Guzman

President

SEEDS

************

attached minutes of yesterday;s meeting: (kindly prepared by Johanna Meyer)

Hurricane Mitch Meeting

December 15, 1998

MIT Building 1 Rm 242

Attendants included:

Flora Rodriguez, Central American Emergency Relief in

Massachusetts(CAER)

Guilleremo Recinos D.M.D. , Central American Emergency Relief in

Massachusetts

Alida Bogran-Acosta, Attorney, Central American Emergency Relief in

Massachusetts

Maria Margarita Lopez, DEFI Harvard Medical

Kevin O'Connell, American Red Cross

Urban and Environmental Policy Program, Tufts Students

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department,

SEEDS executive board members

MIT students

SEEDS members

Topic: Trip to Honduras or Nicaragua

Time: January

Project 1: Managua, Nicaragua

Organization: Central American Emergency Relief in Massachusetts

Building Houses for more details contact the Central American

Emergency Committee.

Project 2: Teguista, Honduras

Organization: World Relief Foundation & Zamorano University

Work with Communities and Campus Clean-up emphasis in water and electric

*Housing and food supplied

Reports by December 19, 1998

Logistics: (Adriana, Bruno)

1) Airline/Transportation information,

2) Health issues/ International Insurance

3) Release Forms

Research: ( Raquel, Maria Lopez? Report from CAER?, Adriana)

1) Condition and Projects in Areas

2) Assessments already done, results

3) Groups Working in project areas and their plans

Planning (SEEDS executive committee)

1) Inventory of Human Resources Available

2) Project Goals and Objectives (long-term and trip)

3) Development and organization of tasks

4) Itinerary

5) Reporting of Trip ( conference?, report? Articles?)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ing. Adriana T. Guzman

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Office: 1- 331

Tel/Fax: (617) 225 9670