Hurricane Stan One Year On
It's been one year since Hurricane Stan struck Guatemala and much of Central America. The following article by Elizabeth Sagastume called "One year after Hurricane Stan: a silent emergency", has been published on the
UN World Food Programme's website.
Topline stats are (according to the UN Food Programme):
* At least 4,800 families still living in temporary shelters
* About 20,000 families still receiving direct food aid from WFP
* A further 40,000 helped by food-for-work programmes
* In total, some 79,000 families - or 400,000 people - given food aid by the WFP in the past year
* About 1.5m Guatemalans directly affected by Stan
There are
one or two articles in the Guatemalan press (see below) about the progress since Stan, e.g. Government has only completed 66% of work planned. There is also
some coverage on the BBC that's worth reading with information about the current situation in Guatemala one year on. There are more links after the article below:
On 5th October 2005, Hurricane Stan raged across Guatemala leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Its consequences have since become one of the many silent emergencies around the world, writes WFP's Elizabeth Sagastume.
One year ago, Jaime Velasquez Bautista managed to save his eldest daughter but lost his wife in the midst of the fury unleashed by Hurricane Stan.
Jaime is just one of the many people whose lives were ripped apart by Stan in the department of San Marcos – 280 kilometres west of Guatemala City - one of the hardest-hit areas. In Jaime's hometown, Dolores Providencia, 72 people died and more than 600 were left homeless.
Hard on every level
"Losing a loved one and part or all of what you have worked for is very sad. It has been very hard to overcome the economic, physical and emotional problems," says Jaime when WFP visited him in the family shelters where he is living along with his five children, with whom he shares the same bed.
It has provided food assistance to his family and more than 285,000 vulnerable people in 1,500 communities across the effected area since the start of the emergency.
WFP rations
A family of five members receives a monthly ration of 87 kilogrammes of food (60kg of maize, 15kg of corn soy blend, 9kg of beans, 3kg of vegetable oil) intended to provide the 2,120 kilocalorie minimum nutritional requirement for one person.
One year after Stan, the damage it inflicted is still visible but its consequences have become one of the many silent emergencies around the world.
WFP needs US$4 million to continue providing food assistance until February 2007 to help survivors get back on their feet.
Toughing it out
Twelve months afterwards, and despite all government efforts, Jaime and his children are still in a precarious situation but they make the most of it.
"We are living in a shelter and even if it is very small, people like me are grateful to have somewhere to live," he says.
"It has been hard raising my children alone but I have tried to keep them in school," says Jaime.
In the meantime he has managed to find different jobs, earning some money through carpentry and plumbing. He has also borrowed a car so he can deliver messages and provide a taxi service.
But none of these jobs offer financial security nor provide enough money to keep his family.
Jaime is used to working the land, but to do so now requires him to leave his family for a month at a time as people in the highlands have little access to land.
Instead he prefers to stay with his children, but this means they must all live in a temporary shelter and depend on food aid.
Hope dying
People are still waiting for land on which they can build new houses.
"We have been told to wait and be patient but people like me, who have lost everything, are starting to lose hope," says Jaime while perched on top of a rock in the place where his house once stood before the disaster struck.
Even though one year has passed, Jaime believes he can find a solution for his family because he and his community have vowed to keep fighting, working and collaborating to accomplish what they want.
"We continue to make the best of everyday and we hope that we can soon try to rebuild a new life together with our children," he says.
Here's another
article from El Periodico about Panabaj- one year on.
There's also another interesting look in Spanish on the BBC Mundo website called "
Stan: Sus Reacciones". The report also includes video and photos of those affected talking about their experiences.
The following article was in the latest weekly report from the Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala:
"Diócesis de San Marcos criticó informe de gobierno sobre reconstrucción post Stan
La Pastoral de la Diócesis de San Marcos criticó el informe del Gobierno, que revela que se ha avanzado el 66% en la reconstrucción del país, sin embargo no ha atendido las necesidades más urgentes de la población afectada por la tormenta Stan en octubre de 2005.
De acuerdo con un diagnóstico de la entidad, el estado cuenta con información incompleta sobre los daños provocados hace un año, como el golpe a la economía campesina, que no figura en los estudios oficiales; tampoco se incluye la infraestructura social, como salones comunales, alcaldías auxiliares e iglesias, ni se considera el impacto en las cuencas, en la vialidad y puentes de la región.
Los registros del gobierno no incluyen el total de viviendas destruidas por el meteoro, mientras que los costos para la construcción de nuevas casas aparentemente han sido sobrevalorados; no se contempla la compra de terrenos para cultivo, sino que predomina la urbanización, a pesar de la característica agrícola de San Marcos, indica el análisis de la Diócesis.
A finales de junio de 2006 el gobierno reportó un avance del 47% en la reconstrucción, en este departamento, sin embargo a mediados de agosto sólo se había logrado el 34%, como lo ha corroborado la Pastoral Social. Por su parte, la Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (CNOC), aseguró en un comunicado de prensa que decenas de comunidades marquenses, de Sololá, Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu, Escuintla y Chimaltenango no han recibido apoyo.
Esta situación demuestra que el gobierno se ha despreocupado por atender las verdaderas necesidades de la población, quienes sufrieron las consecuencias de Stan, pues únicamente ha privilegiado a los sectores que simpatizan con la actual administración, indica el documento.
La CNOC se pregunta cuál es el destino de los fondos donados por la cooperación internacional para la reconstrucción y qué pasará con las miles de familias que aún esperan la asistencia, no sólo material sino del tejido social, según consta en el documento citado.
El 03.10.06, Eduardo Aguirre, gerente de Reconstrucción y el Vicepresidente Eduardo Stein presentaron el cuarto informe de reconstrucción tras el paso del huracán Stan, en octubre del 2005, sin embargo el problema de vivienda es el que más atraso ha afrontado y de hecho, no será este año, sino a mediados de 2007, cuando la mayor parte de damnificados empiece a ver resultados.
Aguirre, informo que serán creados 87 nuevos centros urbanos, a donde se trasladarán las dos mil 800 familias que aún permanecen en albergues.
El informe revela que se han invertido Q1,600 millones, se han recuperado los mil 493 kilómetros de carreteras, se reconstruyeron 712 escuelas, se trabaja en la habilitación de 52 centros de Salud y se han entregado cuatro mil estufas mejoradas y tres mil 492 filtros de agua.
Rafael Estrada, del Comité de Verificación de la Reconstrucción de Santiago Atitlán, Sololá, cuestionó que a un año del paso de Stan en el cantón Panabaj no se haya construido la mayor cantidad de viviendas. Indicó que hay más de 700 familias que todavía no tienen dónde vivir; 200 están en albergues y el resto, alquilando o pidiendo posada en otras casas. Esto se debe agilizar, porque se dijo que Panabaj sería el modelo de la reconstrucción, recordó Estrada."
