The
plane left at 9.30am, headed towards Tecún Umán,
starting off a day’s work in the airlift operation being
run by the Guatemala Red Cross since the onset of the emergency.
There have been more than 127 other airlifts prior to this one,
bringing aid to those affected. Today’s load: some 4,000
pounds of supplies, food sacks filled with soup, flour, oil,
grains and sugar—at total of 120 packages for distribution
to those affected in this region.
As soon as we arrive, delegation volunteers start loading the
truck. We head to La Independencia, a hamlet lined with African
palm trees for producing oil. From the road, it looks like a
tourist site, but on entering, the reality is quite different.
Officials have declared this area as uninhabitable. Opposite
the palm trees, La Independencia is surrounded by the Suchiate
River, and is now part of it. The homes of 250 families are
almost completely covered in rubble and mud that has recently
dried; we can feel the ground give under our feet.
Tecún Umán is in the administrative department
of San Marcos, with the Suchiate River separating it from Mexico.
At the onset of the emergency, some 11 thousand persons were
given shelter in 57 centres. Today, about ten shelters are still
being run in this region.
The Red Cross delegation has 64 active volunteers. During the
emergency, this figure rose to more than 100 volunteers, thanks
to persons from the community who joined forces to help with
the Red Cross tasks. Some 15 beneficiaries have since become
volunteers and are helping the Red Cross’s damage assessment
team and with some other of the delegation’s tasks.
As with other Red Cross delegations in Guatemala, the relief
tasks here are an example of how early warning systems operate.
“There were no deaths in La Independencia. Volunteers
went from house to house in the streets, announcing over loudspeakers
and local cable television the need to evacuate the area before
the river floods,” said Néstor Paz, Disaster Coordinator.
“We warned everyone and helped them to evacuate. The problem
is that people wait until the last minute to leave, which is
a problem for us,” Néstor added.
While we walked near what used to be the community’s school,
a building now half filled with mud, Mariano Melgoza, a volunteer
with 13 years of service shows us a classroom that has been
destroyed; half of the roofless construction hangs dangerously
over a newly formed river bank. “It will fall within a
day,” Mariano said.
Víctor Barrios, with his five children and two grandchildren
is one of the affected families. As we draw closer, he cries
out for help; he lost everything he had. He and his family live
in a shelter. He went back to his home to see what could be
salvaged. “We lost everything. We don’t even have
anything to eat. The problem is that there are so many of us
that the food doesn’t reach us,” he says, as he
points to what used to be his home, which can only be entered
through the windows now. When we stand next to the house, we
are higher than the roof. “We are on dry mud. This house
used to be mine; now it is the river’s,” he said,
his voice cracking.
From the onset of the emergency, the Red Cross in Tecún
Umán has brought aid to the shelters, distributing mainly
clothes and food there. Now, in addition to distributing aid
to shelters, the Red Cross is also going directly to the houses
that have been affected, which had previously been censused
by the damage assessment and needs analysis team of the Honduran
Red Cross, in support to the Guatemala Red Cross.
Wilmer Cortes and Luis Zelaya are volunteers from the Honduran
Red Cross disaster intervention programme. Together with a team
of local volunteers, they are in charge of the assessment. They
arrived on Thursday, the 13th, in Guatemala, together with three
others who are in San Marcos, and Guatemala City.
“Up to now, we have had access to eight communities. Of
these, the four hardest hit are: Las Delicias, El Triunfo, La
Independencia and La Montañita. We are currently assessing
the situation in Tecún Umán City,” Wilmer
tells us. The team estimates that some 600 families are affected,
and the assessment is still ongoing.
“Here, the needs are for food, health, vector control,
water and sanitation, clothes, blankets, mats, equipment for
daily use (hygiene and kitchen kits and tents), according to
the preliminary report of the assessment. As far as the Red
Cross is concerned, logistical reinforcement is needed in the
area, with transportation and technical staff,” said both
Luis and Wilmer.
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Víctor
Barrios points to where his house once stood, an area
which is now covered in mud.
(p13399) |
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The
classrom that was destroyed. "It will fall within
a day", comments a volunteer.
(p13400) |
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The
community leader from Las Delicias shows Néstor
Paz, Disaster Relief Coordinator from Tecún Umán
the list of requirements.
(p13401) |
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Those
affected by the disaster have received hygiene kits, kitchen
kits, clothes and food.
(p13402) |
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