European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 01, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Continued from fridge 13 workers continue 10 remove rubble from buildings thai Ell to the quakes or were so badly damaged that engineers ruled they had to be torn Down. Where a Tew weeks ago there wore collapsed buildings and ambulances standing by for the bodies is they were dug out now there Are vacant lots some of which have already been turned into Small Parks. Mexico City is on its Jeet and Mexico City is roving say the government commercials on the City s radio stations but beneath the surface there is a Good Deal of evidence thai the earthquakes of sept. 19 and 20 will not easily be forgotten. Everywhere in the City t hard hit Center Section workmen Are Busy repairing buildings that sustained damage ranging from significant structural failures to broken windows those who make their living replacing the Large Glass windows of office buildings Are extremely Busy trucks carrying new window panes Are frequent sights. Some streets Are still closed but traffic patterns and the traditional Levels of congestion Are mostly Back to Normal except for the estimated 800 to 1.000 businesses that were destroyed in the quakes mostly Small stores and factories commercial life is Back to its pre quake level stores Are filled with customers the pcs. Restaurants Are heavily booked and every Street Corner has its food Vendor cooking tacos on Gas fired gnus the noticeable absence is tourists. There Are few to be seen and the Drivers who fake tourists through the City say they Are Lucky to make one trip a Day. The homeless who had no relatives to take them in Are still homeless living mostly in government shelters some Page 14 people Are still living n tents in Parks close to the fashionable areas of the City s Conte. But Many have been removed to shelters m More Distant parts of Mexico City the capital is a City of extended families in one Way or another everyone Here was touched by the quakes. A Cousin and hit Wile and children left homeless had to be taken in. A Friend was injured. A colleague at work lost his parents. An office was destroyed and had to be moved across town greatly increasing the commuting time nothing like this has Ever har ened to said a woman who is the curator of an Art museum we weren t prepared. It has affected us All an official of the Bank of Mexico recounted How. Weeks later the earthquake reveals Small tragedies to his family. They asked about an old Friend they had not seen in some time Only to discover he was missing and presumed dead. Another Friend called to say his apartment and a lifetime of possessions had been destroyed. The banker leading a visitor to the window of his office As dusk fell on the cily one recent evening pointed out various government buildings still standing but scheduled to be torn Down because of earthquake damage. You have no idea How upset this makes he said. Those buildings have been a part of my life for years we created programs in those offices we had arguments a moved this country Forward those buildings were my Tnp Sand now they Are for some residents the crisis of the earthquakes has broken Down some traditional social barriers and this seems certain to change their lives Hector Mendez. A Public accountant began pulling survivors from the rubble the Day of the first quake when the stars and stripes there were no More survivors a dedicated himself to retrieving bodies. He has Beer working 16-hour Days Ever since then. When the bodies Are All recovered he said a will turn his efforts to housing for the homeless. We mexicans have never had a War in which to prove ourselves he said. In a sense this is our War. Our National tragedy. It has touched us. In our hearts and our he spoke As he and his fellow or moles took a lunch break from their work removing bodies from a collapsed clothing factory. We Are All different types Here the extreme left the extreme right Rich and poor. We have put our differences aside and we Are doing this for recently Mexico City celebrated the Day of the dead a National Holiday in which mexicans visit tha Graves of their relatives maintain All night vigils and leave food and Flowers. At the same collapsed clothing factory where Mendez searched for bodies the wife of a wealthy automobile dealer who has been helping the homeless organized a mass for the Rescue workers and the families of those who died in the building. The priest using a card table As an altar spoke of the saintliness of those who died doing their duty working to support their families. The congregation wept together and Knelt together in the Street Rich and poor. There has never been something like this tha has allowed the different classes in Mexico to work together to be a part of the same the automobile dealer s wife said i will never forget the Unity that i have experienced sunday i
