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THIRD
NEWSLETTER ABOUT THE CATASTROPHE CAUSED BY HURRICANE STAN IN GUATEMALA
12 days have passed since the rain started and the south-western and central parts of the country are the most affected areas. The sun is barely showing in the horizon, but still reveals the true magnitude of the damages, the desolation, the landslides, the flooding, and the deaths. But also the work that the Guatemalans have put into the reconstruction of their homes, to retrieve some of their possessions and above all the need to find the dead bodies of their families. What have we accomplished so far? The unofficial numbers of people who have died continue to rise and cover the true magnitude of what destruction Stan has caused. About 2.800 people have died. The losses in the agricultural sector surpassed by millions of quetzales, both in production for consumption and for commercial purposes. The assistance continues to arrive together with reports about the affected people, who are not receiving the food from the authorities responsible for the distribution. Meanwhile the authorities argue that they are waiting for the President of the Republic to give them permission to hand out the assistance. The reports from the communities that are not receiving help is supported by various colleagues from social organizations who meet the communities through there work and receive the same information. The reasons being: differences in political observations e.g. that the first assisted (three to four days after the disaster) are communities who are identified as supporters of the current government. All this makes us think: what have we really accomplished so far? Why have we only managed to cover certain necessities? The situation in the communities One of the biggest problems is the food still missing. There are various collection centers for food but still not enough for distribution and the ones who have, do not have budgets for transportation. The help that has arrived is not enough to stop the hunger among the affected families. The food crises increases as the collecting centers each time receive less. This is the help that little by little will diminish. Not to mention the medicine that has been very scarce. We can say that of all the collected items, 50% have been clothing, 35% food and 15% medicine that include disinfectant soap, chlorine, diapers and various medicines to treat respiratory infections and diarrheas. The situation is very serious and people are beginning to talk about the malpractice of the government. The epidemiological diseases are one of the significant dangers, and the rains make the insects reproduce in combination with the deteriorating dead bodies of various animals. Added to this are the hygiene and precautions needed in connection with human waste. The plan is to initiate campaigns to prevent diseases deriving from food and to prevent hygienic problems. A high percentage of children are malnourished after the hurricane. A problem the current government wants to solve by giving one glass of milk per needy child, but how do you reach the children when you can not transport the milk for lack of infrastructure, especially now? Last Saturday the 8th of October the
water of the river Motagua started to rise in the western part of the
country, an area that so far had not suffered from the consequences
of this natural disaster. This makes us think of the dangers of landslides and floodings that continue forcefully and aggravate the state of emergency of the country. The actual situation in numbers:
The departments of Sololá and San Marcos have been the most affected in terms of numbers of people who have died; Escuintla, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu in terms of people staying in shelters and the destructions of farmland. Edgard Estrada, ACJ Guatemala
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