MNO Citizens Respond to Needs from Mudslides of Hurricane Stan

Hurricane Stan hit Guatemala in December 2005, and, as with most hurricanes, left devastation and suffering. This time the hardest hit were Maya in the region between Guatemala City and Lago Atitlan. Mudslides wiped out entire communities. The destruction was horrific. Those who survived were left homeless, without food or a pot to cook in. No beds, no clothing. Nothing.

In very short order, the MNO launched an appeal and soon had built up a sizeable fund. One MNO citizen donated a number of blankets and slippers she had knitted over the year. In January 2005, Tony Belcourt visited the remote community of San Pedro Yepocapa to deliver the funds and the gifts being offered by MNO citizens. He also spent time to catalogue the story of what happened. Here are the stories as told by Felix, the local radio announcer who raised the alarm at 4:00 am of the impending flood. Through the radio he was able to get out the warning but also to get help to people in the dwellings on the riverbank in time for them to escape a certain death as the wall of the mountainside came crashing down to wipe out everything in its path.

Left homeless, they were able to obtain basic emergency shelters from the US Government. However, with nothing left from their homes they had no bedding, no furniture, no food and no utensils with which to cook or eat. The MNO’s donation of $5000 USD was exactly what they needed at exactly the right time. President Belcourt presented the blankets, slippers and funds to an elected committee of the community which took it upon themselves to distribute the blankets and slippers to the elderly and to allocate the funds fairly and evenly to the families so they could purchase the basic foods and essential utensils they needed so desperately.

Tony will be visiting the community at the end of February, 2007, to see how they are doing and will report on their situation when he returns in early March.