'Tremendous Desperation' Grips Peruvians in Washington

Kocerha said it was too soon to say whether the Peruvian government would seek such relief.

The embassy estimates that as many as 120,000 Peruvians or children born to Peruvians live in the Washington area -- a figure substantially higher than the most recent U.S. Census count, which covers only those born in Peru.

Most come from Lima, a sprawling metropolis that is about 175 miles north of Ica and about 125 miles north of Pisco, the towns that were hit hardest by the quake.

Access to public education is fairly broad in Peru, so local Peruvian immigrants tend to be well-educated urbanites. By and large, they work as business professionals, according to the Peruvian consulate, which estimates that their numbers have grown by 50 percent in recent years.

Even as they set down roots here, many remain committed to aiding their compatriots back home, contributing about $45,000 during a recent Spanish radio fundraiser organized by the consulate for victims of freezing weather across Peru's southern Andean region.

Several local Peruvians predicted that even more funds will be raised this time.

Gloria de la Flor, who lives in Bethesda and has family in Miraflores, an upscale suburb of Lima, has promised to send her relatives money to help their gardeners, maids and other workers rebuild their lives in the devastated coastal towns.

"We are going to see little by little what the people need," said de la Flor, who is a leader of a local Peruvian social group and a Spanish teacher in Montgomery County.

Staff writers Pamela Constable and Karin Brulliard contributed to this report.