This is not a political story. We will not be discussing the merits of international policy decisions, the linkage of ideology to food, nor the wisdom of alienating your neighbors. Rather it is simply our purpose to point out that, in the absence of United States international aid, the challenges for non-governmental agencies, such as ours, become both greater and more important. We should never give up in Guatemala.
In short, it is a plea for donations.
Some humanitarian programs formally supported by U.S. aid will wither and die. Defunding the U.S. backed security programs will cause the Guatemalan government to shift monies away from social programs to security and military uses. In either case their absence will leave a vacuum that can only be filled by the charities and NGOs operating in the northern triangle countries.
Horace, Roman Poet 65 BC – 8 BC
It is your concern when your neighbor’s house is on fire.
Because of it’s unique geology and geography, Guatemala suffers from repeating natural disasters. Sitting on the nexus of four tectonic plates, earthquakes are an ever-present threat. Three of the thirty volcanoes in Guatemala are actively erupting as you read this. Tropical storms and hurricanes strike from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The rainy season brings floods and life threatening landslides, the dry season brings wildfires and drought.
Against these threats stands Guatemala’s Fire Service, the only dependable and organized emergency services in the country. Made up of roughly 250 fire stations nationwide, they subsist on little but donations. Their personal gear, equipment, ambulances and fire engines are largely donated, second or third hand tools from the United States. (For comparison, Tennessee, roughly the same size as Guatemala, but with only a third the population, has over a thousand fire stations to serve it’s citizens.) .
Why Guatemalans Flee
Poverty, violence, poor education, endemic corruption and natural disasters mar the country known as “the land of eternal spring.” Still recovering after four decades of a bloody civil war, the poverty rate, those who live on $2.00 a day or less, hovers around 65%. The rate is much higher among the indigenous Maya peoples and the rural population. (260 people own 56% of ALL of the wealth of Guatemala.) Education outside of Guatemala City rarely extends beyond 6th grade. Eight in ten indigenous Maya children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Ninety percent of all the physicians in the country practice in Guatemala City, leaving few resources for the remainder of the country’s 17.5 million people. Violence in the cities has reached epidemic proportions, fueled by the maras (gangs) and narcotraficantes. Police services are suspect at best and governmental corruption is the norm, with both the last president and his vice president awaiting trial for various corruption schemes. Awash in international debt, abandoned by the foreign corporations that profited by exporting their natural resources, and struggling to make it’s way forward in the developing world, the Guatemalan government is simply unable to meet the needs of it’s people without aid from the outside.
Rising need, dwindling resources
Since 2015 our annual small donations have dropped by half. Other NGOs we have spoken with in Central America have reported similar declines. Whether this is the product of changes in political rhetoric and attitudes about Central Americans or the decline in tax advantages in the changing tax code remain to be seen.
What is not in question is the result. With fewer funds, charities are unable to reach many of those most in need. With the coming vacuum in U.S. foreign aid to Central America the numbers of people in need will rise.
From a humanitarian view, it is very bad math.
So, it is our purpose to reach out to the private citizens and corporations to step up and help fill the void. Yes, we would be honored if you would donate to us. But, if not us, find a charity working in Central America that you trust, whose mission you want to support, and send them a few bucks.