What happened in Lorca it was a notice to mariners. Seismologists and practitioners of the construction sector agree in noticing that the Lorca´s earthquake should not remain an isolated event that, however painful, is best forgotten quickly. Quite the contrary. It makes us aware that part of the provinces of Alicante and Murcia are in seismic risk zone, and therefore, it is best to be prepared.

Lorca was an involuntary testing ground which many lessons can be drawn for the future here or elsewhere. Under this premise, the company from Alicante Urbana de Exteriores-dedicated to the field of rehabilitation, decided to export the experience that their technicians acquired in Lorca, especially in the emergency phase in which they participated as volunteers, and has become one of the few companies in Spain to be incorporated by the United Nations the International Registration of companies with sufficient expertise to handle emergencies anywhere in the world.

"We thought it was not so rapidly forgotten what happened in Lorca. The experience and response to problems that arose in the field were lessons that can be applied elsewhere. That experience should not only stay at the local level. So we decided to embark on a new path that was exportable expertise worldwide, and ended up taking us to offer our services to the UN " tells Daniel Perez, a member of Urbana de Exteriores.

The idea of ​​jumping into the international arena arose following everything lived in Lorca the days immediately after the earthquake. Three technicians of the company from Alicante came as volunteers to provide training and professional experiences on facing an extreme situation, as Daniel Perez states, the lack of skilled workers to evaluate more effectively the risks of collapse, as well as, the lack of the lack of the adequate buildings instrumental to ensure the safety of the damaged buildings.

The work with the firefighters was very tight and that shared experience created personal bonds that brought new areas of cooperation beyond the event Lorca. That was how they began to collaborate with the NGO Action Fire, which belonged to some of the troops with whom they had worked side by side during the days following that fateful May 11, 2011 leaving behind nine dead, hundreds injured, and thousands of homes destroyed.

Up Haiti

As recounted Daniel Perez, Action Fire was seeking technicians willing to participate in a humanitarian project to build shelters in Haiti that were developed in collaboration with the Catholic University and the College of Architects of Murcia.

The initiative aims to improve the lives of those affected by the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, as a part of the population continues living in improvised tents that do not meet the minimum conditions of habitability. Sensitized with everything we have lived in Lorca, two technicians from the company from Alicante, Marian Egea and Vicente Medina, decided to travel to the Antilles in November last year to volunteer in this project. Both were responsible for coordinating the implementation of the first shelters that came out in the city of Grand Goave, located about 50 kilometers south of Port au Prince.

According to Marian Egea, the original idea was to use as the main structural element, polyethylene bags filled with crushed rubble. Thus, the utility of giving a large demolition material generated by the earthquake, and whose withdrawal states the Urbana de Exteriores technician 'has become one of the main problems of the country. "Once on the ground, they decided to try to give constructions durability and finally decided to fill the bags with lean concrete. Both technicians were responsible for coordinating and overseeing the construction of ten shelters that have given shelter to a dozen families. The plot was fitted with latrines and a system for collecting rainwater. Shelters explains Marian Egea, are a temporary solution until the reconstruction of the country, advance but due to the difficult social and economic situation in Haiti, probably will end up being their final homes.

And from there, the United Nations

The raid by volunteering in the draft Action Fire made contact the United Nations with technicians’ personnel of Alicante who were presence in Haiti. Lorca's experience as an added value and concern to specialize in technical support work in cases of natural disasters that may occur anywhere in the world, what led this company to delve into the idea of ​​working in the international field.

They were released in three different sections of the United Nations Office for Project Services United Nations (UNOPS) - responsible for supporting countries in emergency or post-conflict-Programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The result, its registration was a month ago, in the register of companies of the United Nations, which is essential to qualify for the bidding of any of its worldwide projects requirement.

Lorca´s event marked many people. And there are those who firmly believe that of any crisis any positive reading can always be removed. "After what we have lived in Lorca it is clear that, to a disaster, whether as a company or as volunteers , in one way or another are going to be," says Daniel Perez.

Urbana de Exteriores is currently developing in Lorca 28 rehabilitation projects, 12 of which have to do with buildings considered historical heritage. Among them is the palace of the early eighteenth century known as 'House of the Mula', or so-called 'House of Arcas' belonging to the nineteenth century.