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La Casa de Norma
A firefighter in a helmet and breathing gear steps through the door of the house at night. The wall is sea-green; through the barred window the orange glow of the fire is visible inside.

Riacho He Hé, Formosa

La Casa de Norma

A fire took a great deal from us, but not the most important thing: the strength of a community that stays.

Help rebuildRead the story

What happened

The fire took our house

On Monday 7 September, at 4.30 in the morning, a fire destroyed the family home in Riacho He Hé. Norma died. Her husband survived and is in treatment.

Read the full story
Two firefighters with a hose in front of an opening from which high flames and black smoke are coming. The water has already wet the floor.
The firefighters of Riacho He Hé working on the front of the house.
The front of the house in daylight. The sea-green wall is stained black above the window and the paint has lifted from the heat. The sheet metal of the eaves is twisted.
A room with no roof. The walls are bare brick, black in one corner; a burned timber beam hangs in the empty space and the floor is covered in rubble.
The garage with a burned-out car in the centre. The walls and the sheet-metal roof are black and the floor is covered in burned remains.

This is what was left of our house.

The community

People showed up

Family, neighbours and friends. In the same days as the fire, the community organised to clear and haul debris.

A man with a shovel piles rubble into a mound of broken brick and ash. Behind him, the bucket of a yellow loader is already full of burned remains.
Burned engine parts laid on the floor and on a table, sorted by type: pipes, exhaust manifolds, a blue crate of tools. The legs of several people working around them are visible.

Together, everything is possible.

See the work on the house

How to help

Your help counts too

Three ways to make a difference

Choose how to help

Bank transfer from Argentina or Chile, Mercado Pago or PayPal. Choose where you are giving from and copy the details.

Argentina

Bank transfer

Alias

justomiguelvargas

CBU

1430001713005033120017

Número de cuenta

1300503312001

Titular

Justo Miguel Vargas

CUIT/CUIL

20 - 33184377 - 7

Mercado Pago

There is a Mercado Pago link for Argentina and another for Chile. Choose the one for your country.

Continue with Mercado Pago · Argentina

Chile

Bank transfer

RUT

25540188-2

Número Cuenta

980578127

Correo

justomiguelvargas@gmail.com

Nombre

JUSTO MIGUEL VARGAS

Banco

Scotiabank

Tipo

Cuenta Corriente

Mercado Pago

There is a Mercado Pago link for Argentina and another for Chile. Choose the one for your country.

Continue with Mercado Pago · Chile

International

PayPal

Make your contribution securely from any country.

Continue with PayPal

You do not need to let us know. If you would rather your gift stay anonymous, it already is: we do not publish names or individual amounts.

Thank you for being part of this.

Clear debris

If you can give a hand in person, we are organising a crew to clear and haul debris.

Portrait of Justo Miguel Vargas in a pink shirt, against a dark background.

Justo Miguel Vargas

+56 9 6578 9862

WhatsAppCallEmailInstagram

Material donations

Cement, lime, sand, roof sheets. Any other material useful for the future house helps too.

To arrange a delivery, write to Justo.

Portrait of Justo Miguel Vargas in a pink shirt, against a dark background.

Justo Miguel Vargas

+56 9 6578 9862

WhatsAppCallEmailInstagram
Norma looks at the camera, smiling slightly. She is in her kitchen, wearing a black blouse with white dots. Behind her, a cupboard with glasses and a shelf of framed family photographs.

Norma Edith Bedoya

A woman who told the story of her town.

She spent much of her life recording the everyday history of Riacho He Hé.

Read her story

What comes next

More than a house

First we want to rebuild a house. Then we want to help build opportunities for Riacho He Hé through communication and digital tools.

Once the family has a place to live, the intention is that this continues: communication and digital tools for other people in the town. It is not an organisation yet. The site says so.

The same community that is helping today can create more opportunities.

What comes next

What people usually ask

  • What happened?

    On Monday 7 September, at 4.30 in the morning, a fire destroyed the family home in Riacho He Hé. Norma died that night.

    Her husband got out, but he inhaled a lot of smoke and is under treatment.

    Read what happened

  • How can I help?

    By bank transfer from Argentina, Chile or the United States. The giving page has the details for each country.

    You can also help on the ground. Justo Miguel Vargas's WhatsApp, email and Instagram are published. This page does not process payments or ask for card details.

    See the details to transfer

  • What do you want to build afterwards?

    First, rebuild the house. After that, the intention is that this continues: communication and digital tools for other people from the town. There is not yet a constituted organisation, and no published programme.

    Read what the legacy sets out to do

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