Cash assistance in Costa Rica and Panama: A tale of two towns with the same name and a common story of resilience, recovery and solidarity
Ana Grace Solís and Leonel Rodríguez live more than 800 kilometers apart and they’ve never met. But they have a few interesting things in common.First, they both live in towns named Bebedero, which as the name would suggest are located on the banks of a river. (In Spanish, bebedero usually means a place where people can access water – a fountain, a well or even a river).Second, they both suffered the severe consequences brought on by the heavy rains from tropical storm Sara in November 2024, as well as several other low-pressure systems that recently caused historic floods in Central America.While the towns are far part – one in the North Pacific region of Costa Rica and the other in the province of Los Santos, Panama – both were hit hard.That month, more than 1.1 million people were at dire risk due floods, river overflows and landslides caused by extreme weather events.It was a very scary time."You don't know how high the water will get," said Ana Grace, who lives in Bebedero in Costa Rica. "We used to watch the water rise and lift things to a certain height. Now, every time there is a flood, you lose things."Along the Pacific coast – from Guanacaste and Puntarenas in Costa Rica to Veraguas, Panama Este and the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in Panama – entire communities were evacuated, cut off from communications, and they suffered severe economic losses.Fortunately, the two towns share another important point in common: they both received support from local Red Cross teams before, during and after the emergency."We are grateful for their support because they managed to get to where we were stuck and give us the help we needed," said Leonel, from El Bebedero, Panama.Two operations, one fund: IFRC-DREFThat support came largely from the IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF), a resource that finances rapid emergency response using funds already provided by donors in case of emergency.Faced with this multi-country crisis, the Costa Rican Red Cross and the Panamanian Red Cross, with the support of IFRC-DREF, implemented two humanitarian operations, one in each country.Their response included health care, access to clean water, protection of the most vulnerable, and an increasingly valued tool for its positive impact: cash transfers.The Costa Rican Red Cross aimed to help 7,500 people, focusing on the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas. Of these, 4,000 received cash transfers, a strategy that allowed the people impacted by the disasters to prioritize and make decisions about their own needs.Following community censuses to identify the most vulnerable households, the Costa Rican Red Cross organised the delivery of debit cards in safe and accessible places, always respecting the dignity and privacy of the families."Providing them with financial assistance also allows the family to manage their own needs in a more independent and autonomous way, but also more adapted to their own context," explains Abigail Lopez, IFRC-DREF Emergency Coordinator in Costa Rica.For Fidel Espinoza, a dialysis patient who was evacuated during the emergency, the money allowed him to replace at least some of what he had lost. "I lost the washing machine and the chairs, the table, the kitchen. Now the only thing I have left is to buy a washing machine because the lady who helps me washes by hand," he said.The Red Cross humanitarian response also included health fairs to promote hygiene, post-flood waste management and disease prevention. Cleaning kits, jerry cans for drinking water and repellents were also distributed to strengthen communities' capacity to prevent further health crises.The Panamanian Red Cross was able to assist 2,500 people thanks to an operation structured in the same way as the Costa Rican Red Cross.The process for delivering the monetary assistance was participatory: socioeconomic evaluations were carried out, household data were validated, debit card distribution days were organized, and advice was given on the safe use of the money. During distribution, children participated in mental health activities.The families then invested in whatever they deemed necessary: food, medicines, tools for rebuilding or school supplies."It has been an excellent help that they have given to the community of Flores, including the emotional one," said Marisin Pimentel, who was affected by the floods. "The Red Cross guided us on issues that we did not know about at the time of the floods, and we really thank them from the bottom of our hearts. If there is another flood, we already know what to do”.Read more about cash and voucher assistance: A key tool in modern humanitarian action that allows a rapid and flexible response, empowers people to make their own decisions, and boosts local economies.The IFRC’s approach to cash and voucher assistanceDignifying, diverse and desires: Cash and vouchers as humanitarian assistance for migrantsBelize: After a season of drought and fire wiped out farmlands, Red Cross help farmers sow the seeds of recovery