Five days with victims of Stan

Nuria Gatell, MS development worker in Guatemala, writes diary from communities hit by flooding, stone- and mud shred provoked by the tropical storm.

By Nuria Gatell

16. October 2005

Sunday October 9^th, San Cristóbal Verapaz

Yesterday they called us, a convoy with provisions and medicine will go out toward La Lupita on Monday and we will take part as well. San Cristóbal's voluntary youths are organized to collect as much as possible, mainly water and canned food. The municipality donates part of what they have collected, to take with us. I am a little nervous, I don't know what we are going to find, but right now I don't want to think about that, the important thing is to gather enough foods to fill the two vehicles.

We leave San Cristóbal around five o'clock. It is late; it will be dark before we reach the capital. The road toward Guatemala City is a race of obstacles, mudslides and water coming from the mountains everywhere. You don’t know what you will meet around the next curve. I listen to the radio, it seems the river Motagua has also raised and with a bit of luck we can make it to the capital. There is not a lot of traffic and that makes me worry that the road will be inaccessible. When arriving to the Atlantic highway, I confirm alleviated that we can get through, but the river has grown and an odor, new to me, a mixture between dead animals and stem water invades the atmosphere. The radio continuously receive anguish calls from people looking for some means to contact missing relatives:

- Please, if somebody knows where... more news about mudslides, deaths, people missing. It rains and the night arrives in Guatemala.

Monday October 10^th, Guatemala City

We spend the night in the capital and early head for the road. Somebody already arrived at La Lupita with water and food yesterday. They inform us that the road is not cut off, but some parts are difficult. We meet up with another vehicle with personnel from YMCA and MS who has gathered medicines, mainly oral serum and food and we leave heading for the Pacific coast. Surprised I see that the highway is passable and that in many areas it seems that nothing has happen but a strong wind that has taken trees and masts. Unfortunately, as we abandon the main highway reality is another. The corn and sugarcane fields are flooded and the roads are filled with mud, water and everything else the rain has taken with it.

After about three hours we arrive at the meeting point and meet with the residents of La Lupita. We cannot reach the community, the strong rains on Saturday has taken the bridge which was the only access road to the exterior. Now only a boat, charging, can transfer people to the other side of the river. My imagination can hardly understand how something like this could happen. A solid bridge of about 20 meters high and about 100 meters from bank to bank, has disappeared almost completely. In the distance I see people from the community who has crossed the river to meet us. I recognize Alicia, one of the voluntaries from La Lupita. You can see the sadness and the fatigue in her face. She tells me that nothing is left, all the crops are lost and they don't know what is going to happen to them. She, at the moment, is in charge of the pharmacy. Alicia studies to become a nurse, but now she doesn't believe that she can continue her studies.

The other young people from the community are grieved and disappointed; they don't know what lay ahead of them. Most worked in the fields. Jacinto, the school teacher, who was our contact during the international work brigades, thanks us for coming, but tells me that there are several sick persons and people are lining up in the health center, where they are no longer many medicines. His son also has high fever. They have not had electricity since Friday. A lady skims a newspaper and asks about the earthquake in Pakistan, but when seeing the weather forecast she turns pale as she reads that more rain is coming within the next days:

- I don't know if we will be able to take more.

On the other side of the river a group of some 20 people from the community awaits the provisions delivery.

They have already placed the load in the small boat and the moment of farewell has come. Words are few and many are missing. Some hugs, some encouraging words and with powerlessness in the heart we move away from the bridge. When returning to Guatemala City we are informed that three groups have been organized and tomorrow we will travel to different communities, each one with a truck full of provisions. I have to go to Union Victoria in Chimaltenago to gather as much information as possible about the damages in the community.

Tuesday October 11^th, Guatemala City

The trucks are loaded and we meet with the other two groups. One group travels to La Lupita and the other to the community Nueva Linda. The last place has not yet received any help, after almost ten days. We leave guiding the truck, and after many doubts we agree on taking the coast road, as we believe it is the most accessible. Strong rains hit us as we exit Guatemala City. None of us has previously traveled to Union Victoria. As we come closer to the mountains, the road becomes more difficult. The truck with provisions can hardly get through and the driver is nervous and wants to return to the city. We are stopped on several occasions by overflowed rivers, cranes and personal fixing the roads.¨

We arrive in Pochuta and people tell us that the route to Union Victoria is blocked:

- You have to leave the vehicles and walk four kilometers up the mountain, the bridge is gone.

Several communities we come through request help, - here nothing has arrived. Residents of Union Victoria waits for us on the road, they inform us that people from the village will arrive at once to transport the load. We begin unload the provision bags and boys, girls and men throw to their backs all they can carry. It is already dark. The road is very sheer and full of mud, in some parts the river has overflowed and we have to be careful where we step because the ground is very soft. We arrive almost without breath after a 45 minutes walk in the darkness, but people continue going down to pick up what is left, some up to three times.

While walking, a man tells us that everybody has abandoned their houses because they are afraid that the whole mountainside will fall down. Don Jacinto, spiritual doctor and Mayan priest takes us to his house; it seems that we will stay here together with his family. They have not had electricity for a month. They have already finished carrying up the load and people say goodbye to us, they will sleep in the mountain. We have dinner, some rice, together with Jacinto’s family, seven daughters, a son and his wife. It is 19:30 o'clock. I admit that I don't feel completely safe about sleeping in the town, when the other sleep in the mountain, but Don Jacinto says that it is safe. We sleep on the floor with our sleeping bags, it is cold. It begins raining and the cold becomes more intense. Don Jacinto gets up several of times during the night to observe the mountains. I am worried and wonder if we will have time to get out in the event of a collapse.

Wednesday October 12^th, Union Victoria, Chimaltenango

At 4:30 in the morning, everybody is up and already on their way to their houses. We have breakfast and Don Jacinto wants to show us the damages form the rains and collapses. Contrary to La Lupita, flat and for that reason very susceptible to floods, Union Victoria located in the mountains has the inconvenience of collapses. He says there are 89 families in the community, but there are only 72 houses because some families are sharing. All now sleep in the mountains, but during the day they go down to their houses. There are no victims, but a house was completely destroyed by mudslides. Three people were buried by mud, two women, one of them eight months pregnant, and a boy, all managed to escape. We ascend to the hill where they are living, to speak with the people. They are afraid, they don't want to return to their houses, some talk about leaving and one speaks of leaving Union Victoria for good.

The improvised housings are four sticks with a piece of plastic for roof. There are several people with persistent coughs, mainly the smallest children. Juana tells how she lost her house. She speaks nervously of how lucky it was that no one was inside when it happened:

- Now I don't have anything. The worst thing for Juana is not the house, but their destroyed crops:

- We don’t know how to recuperate.

Nobody knows when they will return to their houses again, but it doesn't seem urge them. The fear is stronger than the cold and the illnesses. One of the women that were buried cries when we ask her how she feels.  She doesn't speak a lot, she has no desire to leave the mountain and she feels very week.

We continue our journey, always with Jacinto guiding us. We arrive at the destroyed house, it is impressive. Here we meet Andrés, Juana’s husband. He was not in Union Victoria when it happened; they send him a message, informing him about the destroyed house. Andrés, in spite of the circumstances, is not sad. He tells us that the day it happened, according to what they told him, it rained a lot and the population was getting ready to evacuate in the tractor, that accidentally was stopped under his house:

- If the house had not stopped the impact, consequences would have been serious.

The smallest children confused the roar of the mountain for a truck and they went out to look, but the mud washed them out of the road and fortunately for them, they got away with a scare. We ascend to the birth of the mudslide that not only raze the house, but also destroyed their water supply pipes. Ascending, we pass by the clinic that has been affected also, although continuous to stand. In the mountains it seems like a giant cat, with big claws, has removed pieces here and there. From above we see the river that has changed its course about 50 meters, razing all the fields by the bank and dividing the community in two. Some ten families staying on the other side had to be passed over using rope as the bridge was gone. When going down to the river, the magnitude of the drama becomes more real. We see the destroyed bridges, trunks and stones, some of them about two meters; this illustrates the force of the water coming down.

We return and see the town gathered around women that have brought food. They say they are from the president's wife social office and they have brought some 50 bags of provisions, which is not enough even for half the families. They promise to return, but don't know when or if they will bring more food for Union Victoria. The residents don't request provisions, but help to fix their situation. They request that the government be informed of their reality. The women leave and the community stays congregated. I cannot understand what they say as they speak Ixil.

Before lunch there will be a Mayan ceremony, arranged by Jacinto. Juana is there with her children. She comes closer to the fire and they pour liquid over her head, Jacinto explains that it is to avoid her becoming sick. After lunch the other woman buried in mud arrives. She tells me that she and her baby are both well. She shows me her wounds, mostly on feet and legs:

- Juanito helped me out, but I thought that I was going to die.

She is afraid and doesn’t want to return:

- But I have to.

She is here to see Jacinto for a cure.

Meanwhile a group of youngsters arrive to start classifying the sacks we brought so they can begin to distribute the help. At night we meet with the representatives of the community to evaluate the damages and to see what strategies can be applied. The first they tell us is that they cannot leave the village. But they request help from specialized teams to evaluate the risk level in the community. We speak about water, electricity, health, education, security, but mainly about their fields and of the urgency to implement measures of commercializing the little that is left. For example, they have some coffee left, but they cannot process as there is no electricity. We speak of the possibilities for the community after Stan:

- The problem is that people are unmotivated, mainly women and children. It would be excellent if they could get psychological support.

We ask them to write an estimate of the necessities for provisions for all Union Victoria per week, besides other necessities. We are leaving for the capital tomorrow. Today is colder than yesterday and I cannot sleep, thinking of the people under the plastic in the mountains.

Thursday October 13^th, Union Victoria, Chimaltenango

We get up early and prepare to leave the community. Yesterday they informed us that three mothers had lost their milk and cannot feed their babies. One of the representatives of the community will go down with us to Pochuta to bring milk for the babies.

We say goodbye to the family we stayed at. Other people come to say good-bye and to thank us for the solidarity:

- It is good that you have seen our situation with your own eyes.

Don Jacinto also wants to go down to say goodbye. Once on the road, now by the day light, we realize the danger of the situation, as pieces on the mountain can break off any moment. I walk beside Pedro, is difficult to follow his step.

–It is good that you are here now and come with help, but this is not forever, we have to continue by our own effort.

I don't say anything, but I admire him for his integrity. When arriving to the vehicle the last handshakes and recommendations are exchanged. Don Jacinto solicits us:

- Be our voice and don't forget our suffering.

How do I explain to him that these last three days in Union Victoria are already deep inside me and I couldn’t forget them even if I wanted to?

Nuria Gatell

October 16th 2005, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala