ERIC PAUL ZAMORA/THE FRESNO BEE
Pablo Orozco and his wife, Sol Orozco Hernández, have redirected their personal blog and focused it on reporting developments of a flood-damaged area where Hernández's mother lives in Mexico.
From The Fresno Bee:
World's eyes on Fresno blog
Local chef draws attention to flood victims in Mexico
By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee
12/08/07 21:26:02
A Fresno chef has drawn international attention, but not for her pastries.
The chef's Web log on food has been getting hits from all over the world since it recast its mission and started raising awareness of -- and money for -- flood victims in Tabasco, Mexico.
Sol Orozco Hernández, who grew up in Tabasco, pushed photos of chocolate flan cake and fruit tarts to the side of the page. She replaced them with photos of flooded streets, dead cattle and piles of trash from last month's flood in the southern Mexican state.
Since Nov. 1, her "Root Coffee" blog has received 20,000 hits from readers in Austra`the United States. That's nothing compared with the most popular blogs, which can get well over 1 million hits a day. But it's a huge number compared to the 80 regular visitors "Root Coffee" normally draws.
Orozco Hernández, who bakes cakes from her north Fresno home, said she and her husband changed the blog's focus because they felt the U.S. media hasn't given the disaster enough attention.
"On top of there being little media coverage, there was no way to send aid directly from the U.S.," said husband Pablo Orozco.
Retooling a blog's mission isn't common but it happens during a crisis, said Melissa Wall, an associate professor of journalism at the California State University, Northridge.
Wall said the mainstream media will inform the public about a disaster and information on assistance, but it won't go beyond that for fear of being biased.
"A blog does have a mission to rally around an issue. You have a personal relationship with the readers. You get a sense of who they are," she said.
Wall, who has done research on blogs, the Internet and international news, said bloggers sometimes provide better insight on distant countries because the U.S. media tend to rely on officials for international news.
"You don't get the voices of ordinary people. ... In a blog, you can sometimes discover those people," Wall said.
The flooding that began Oct. 31 in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas affected more than 1 million residents. It is considered one of the worst natural disasters in Mexico, according to the American Red Cross. About 70% of Villahermosa, Tabasco's capital city, was underwater in early November, the Red Cross reported. Homes, crops and livestock were destroyed.
"I'm worried about my family. I don't know how the economy will flow again," said Orozco Hernández, 28.
"Root Coffee" provided updates on the disaster through news stories, links and through accounts of Orozco Hernández's relatives. Many of the entries are in English, some are in Spanish.
Her mother's home was spared because the block it's on is higher than other parts of town, she said. Her mother opened her two-story home on Colonia Reforma to displaced relatives and friends, sheltering about 30 people in the flood's aftermath.
In one blog entry, Orozco Hernández described the destruction as seen through her mother's eyes: "According to my mom, Hortencia (Dona Tencha to friends), the few streets that are drying up are a mess: a fetid stench emanates from the muddy sidewalks and walls, dead animals lie bloating under the sun, and trash collection is a challenge."
The blog began attracting more visitors after Orozco Hernández e-mailed the British Broadcasting Corporation to post comments and accounts of the destruction and mentioned her blog. The entries piqued the interest of the BBC, which e-mailed Orozco Hernández and asked where her family lives and whether a reporter could contact her relatives.
"All of a sudden we got a call from a man with a British accent" asking for an interview, said Pablo Orozco, the chef's husband.
The Orozcos also started e-mailing a list of 200 people, including family, friends and the blog's 80 regular visitors. They asked their readers to spread the word about the blog. They also created a PayPal account, raising about $700 in donations. They posted links to other donation sites, such as the American Red Cross, the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles and UNICEF.
More than a month after the floods, there are fewer updates from news outlets and relief agencies. Reports from relatives in Mexico also have tapered off. The blog has not been updated since Nov. 17.
Orozco Hernández might resume adding recipes and cooking tips next week.
But she plans to keep the focus on Tabasco.
"It's like a big lesson for me. When New Orleans flooded, I said 'poor people.' But when it's your loved ones, you really feel it," Orozco Hernández said.
The reporter can be reached atvcolon@fresnobee.com or(559) 441-6313.
I found these really cool pics on Flickr; a very creative and fun way to help. Amazing Sesame Street sculptures out of canned food. I love the way the constructed Big Bird, with all the right colors; and Oscar the Grouch in his garbage can. Beautiful work: 
