Flood Relief

The situation is dire in Chajmaic, with rising waters and a swollen river, overflowing into the streets and fields in areas near the river.

 

Take a look at these “before” and “after” photos

Our Project Manager in Guatemala is using all available resources to locate corn, oil, and salt at the lowest prices in the closest town.  The plan is to gather the provisions and return to Chajmaic where 2,250 inhabitants are sheltering at the schoolhouse.

The schoolhouse has a kitchen which our group will be allowed to use on Monday to prepare tortillas for everyone in the shelter.

As we plan our Flood Emergency Relief we keep these costs in mind, the cost of corn is $0.26/lb.  If we buy 1 lb. per person, the cost will be $585.  If we buy 5 lbs. per person, the cost is $2,925.

For comparison, when we were giving groceries, we gave 50 lbs. for 5-6 people for 2 weeks.

We can use this number as a rough estimate because of two factors: (1) it’s possible that more people will be sheltering in place in the schoolhouse by Monday and (2) we don’t know how much grain we will find.

 

This video was taken of Río Cahabón in Chajmaic, Guatemala (Department of Alta Verapaz). Hurricane Eta touched land in Guatemala on Monday, November 2, 2020.  Three days later, the river was starting to overflow onto the dirt roads, eventually turning them into rivers, as well.

[su_row class=”columns-with-border”]
[su_column size=”1/2″]Here is a video taken of the river and a dirt road on Thursday, November 5, 2020

November 8, 2020: Email sent with additional details
November 9, 2020: video taken of houses, completely inundated by flood waters

The waters have risen a foot overnight, and have now reached 2 feet and the river continues to swell, due to rain falling upstream in Petén. Here is a video taken of houses, completely inundated by flood waters

November 12: all 3,000 people in the remote #village of Chajmaic, #Guatemala received #flood relief #aid due to #HurricaneEta. Read more about Sowing Opportunities’s efforts: https://conta.cc/3f2ysWW

November 14: Video taken from one of the many steep hills in the remote village of Chajmaic. Here you can see the people traveling down the “street,” which is completed flooded. They use makeshift rafts to travel.

[/su_column][su_column size=”1/2″]Two weeks after Hurricane Eta flooded the village of Chajmaic, the waters have not receded. Homes, especially near the river – affecting 60% of families – still have 2 feet of water, and another hurricane is expected on Monday, November 16. Video taken from one of the high hills in the village of Chajmaic, two weeks after Hurricane Eta touched land. Streets are inundated with water, due to the river overflowing.

Chajmaic, Guatemala, 11/14/2020, two weeks after Hurricane Eta touched land, 2.45 mins

November 14: Chajmaic, flooded streets. This is the aftermath after Hurricane Iota hit Chajmaic, Guatemala. 

The waters had risen to 3 feet in height and, as of November 21st, had receded to 2 feet. The people are trying to salvage what they can, especially food. Another hurricane, Kappa, is set to hit Guatemala within 10 days, depending on the storm trajectory.

November 22, 2020

Devastation and Compassion – update: https://conta.cc/3nPAa1c

 

[/su_column][/su_row]

November 27, 2020

As we in the U.S. have enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, the people of Chajmaic, Guatemala are about to receive groceries to last two weeks. $1.10 pays for the following per person (see bags ready for distribution): #GivingTuesday Fundraiser: https://bit.ly/37e89tt

1 bottle of oil / 2 bags of Incaparina / 1 bag of salt / 5 lbs. of beans / 30 lbs. of corn

[su_row class=”columns-with-border”]
[su_column size=”1/3″] [/su_column]
[su_column size=”1/3″] [/su_column]
[su_column size=”1/3″ class=”column-with-green-border”]

[/su_column]
[/su_row]

Thank you to all who helped make it possible for the 3,000 people in the village of Chajmaic, Guatemala to have groceries again.  If you’d like to help, any amount is gratefully accepted. We cannot do this without you all.