Rebuilding Lives While Respecting Cultures

Photo: Mercy Corps

As Guatemalan families return to what's left of their shattered villages, Mercy Corps stands committed to helping them recover from the destruction and despair that Hurricane Stan brought to their country.

The humanitarian agency, which has continuously operated programs in the region for nearly 25 years, is carrying out long-term assistance in Guatemala's devastated Solola Department in its trademark fashion: crafting innovative, effective programs while respecting and incorporating the country's unique cultures.

Mercy Corps' efforts have transitioned from immediate relief to more sustainable initiatives that will rebuild damaged infrastructure in the area, address widespread health issues and bring psychosocial counseling to traumatized children.

Soon after torrential rains and winds buffeted Solola Department, Mercy Corps staff was on the scene delivering critical food and immediate health care. Over the initial response weeks, efforts centered on five municipalities: Chuatarras, Paja, Pala, Pakawex and Xolja. These villages, already mired in poverty before Hurricane Stan's fury, have meager resources to help in the rebuilding process.

"These are remote, isolated villages. The Mayan families that live there have been neglected for a long time," said Kathy Fry, Mercy Corps' Senior Program Officer for Latin America. Fry recently returned from a visit to Guatemala.

"The people that have suffered are the poorest," she continued.

Fry noted that health care workers deployed to affected areas ended up treating more existing health needs - such as respiratory problems and preventable diseases - than injuries caused by Hurricane Stan due to the lack of available medial care in remote areas.

The ethnic groups that make their homes in Solola Department's highlands are often marginalized, receiving minimal services from government agencies. As a result, they were especially vulnerable when the hurricane swept through their villages - and are now struggling for a starting point to rebuild their villages and lives.

Mercy Corps has focused on meeting the distinct needs of marginalized ethnic groups in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz Department, another underserved area of the country. In the remote Polochic Valley, a local hospital and its satellite clinics provide culturally sensitive health care to far-flung villages inhabited by the Q'eqchi people. Area families, which once distrusted and avoided health care providers, witnessed a 30% decrease in mother and child mortality within three years of the health program's initiation.

Mercy Corps will apply those lessons as it works with families, local organizations and other partners in hard-hit Solola Department.

The agency's work in this area will include cash-for-work programs, similar to those used in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, that will pay local workers to repair and construct water and sanitation systems. In addition, Mercy Corps will train local organizations to better prepare and be ready to respond to future disasters.

Another critical component of the agency's response is to address the psychosocial needs of area children. Hurricane Stan and its aftermath robbed them of family members and friends, as well as homes, belongings and familiar spaces like schools.

As it did for crises such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Mercy Corps is leading efforts to provide assistance to distressed children. Currently, the agency is working with UNICEF to organize a workshop that will train other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on how to effectively address the post-disaster needs of children.

Mercy Corps, which used its experience and expertise to mount a lifesaving response for individuals displaced by Hurricane Stan, is leading efforts to help families return to safer, stronger villages.