Colombia Pacific Earthquake & Creative Recovery
Help Colombia’s Pacific
Communities Recover
The August 2026 earthquake struck western Colombia during a season of strong Pacific winds, compounding the challenges faced by communities across Chocó, Valle del Cauca, and the Pacific coast that were already living with geographic isolation, limited infrastructure, and fragile local economies. The CreatiVrole Project is organizing a recovery campaign focused on families, cultural workers, and small community livelihoods that can easily be overlooked in a large-scale emergency.
Protect the communities that protect the culture.
Why the Pacific Region Needs Attention
The earthquake’s epicenter was near San José del Palmar in Chocó, and serious impacts have been reported across western Colombia. Our concern extends especially to smaller Pacific communities and cultural networks where information and outside assistance can arrive more slowly. We are following needs in and around San José del Palmar, Quibdó, Condoto, Santa Rita de Iró, Buenaventura, Juanchaco, and the wider Pacific corridor, including places such as Guapi as local assessments continue.
In this part of Colombia, a home may also be a restaurant, workshop, rehearsal space, family business, or gathering place. Boats and regional transport connect communities to food, medicine, work, tourism, and one another. Recovery therefore means more than repairing damaged structures. It means helping people regain the everyday systems that allow a community to function.
Why Colombia is part of our community
The CreatiVrole Project grew from long-term relationships built through Havana Music Tours and Musical Getaways. Colombia is one of Musical Getaways’ core destinations, and our team has worked repeatedly with Colombian musicians, cultural leaders, cooks, artisans, and community partners. Musical Getaways is an official partner of the Festival de Música del Pacífico Petronio Álvarez, and our planned 2026 Petronio program had to be canceled following the earthquake. Our connection to these communities does not end when travel stops. Their music, food, knowledge, and creative work are part of a cultural legacy that matters far beyond the Pacific coast, and this campaign is one way to stand with the people who sustain it.
One Family, One Example
La Sazón de Fanny in Juanchaco
Fanny runs La Sazón de Fanny in Juanchaco, a coastal community in the Buenaventura district. Her family’s home and restaurant are part of the same place. It is where the family lives, where Fanny cooks, where customers gather, and where income is earned.
The earthquake and the strong winds of the season severely damaged the roof. These photographs show what existed before, the food and person behind the business, and the damage the family is now trying to repair. Fanny’s story is one example of why this campaign is focused on practical recovery at the household and community level.
Before the earthquake
After the earthquake
Campaign assistance will be based on documented need and the charitable purpose of the program. Fanny’s family is one case within a broader effort to reach similarly affected households and creative communities.
Additional cases being documented
As local assessments continue, trusted collaborators are helping us identify other musician families whose housing and livelihoods were affected. These cases reinforce why the campaign is designed to respond to documented needs across more than one household.
Buenaventura · Jaritza Narváez. Jaritza is a young percussionist who recently lost both of her parents. According to local collaborators, the earthquake then severely damaged the house that she and her siblings inherited, compounding an already difficult family situation.
Guapi · The Torres family. The Torres family has deep ties to Guapi’s marimba tradition. Parts of their home were already in poor condition, and local collaborators report that the earthquake worsened the damage. Their case is among the needs now being documented as the campaign’s Pacific community assessment continues.
Earthquake Recovery and the Loss of Petronio
The emergency has another consequence for the same communities. The Festival de Música del Pacífico Petronio Álvarez, one of Colombia’s most important celebrations of Pacific music, food, artisanship, ancestral knowledge, and Afro-Colombian entrepreneurship, has been left in suspense following the earthquake. For many musicians, cooks, artisans, and families, Petronio is not simply a festival. It is an important annual opportunity to perform, sell, build relationships, and earn income.
How recovery support may be used
Homes and families
Essential repairs, safe shelter needs, and practical household recovery after documented earthquake damage.
Local livelihoods
Replacement tools, equipment, supplies, and support that can help family restaurants, workshops, and small businesses recover.
Cultural continuity
Needs of musicians and cultural workers, together with the transportation and local coordination required to reach smaller communities.
How we will work: through trusted local relationships, documented needs, local purchasing when practical, responsible distribution, and public reporting on how campaign resources are used while protecting the privacy and dignity of participating families.
Protect the communities that protect the culture.
The CreatiVrole Project is a recognized 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by U.S. law.
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