MADRE Mobilizes Support for Women and Families in Guatemala Devastated by Hurricane Stan
Contact:
Irene Schneeweis,
Media Coordinator
PHONE: 212-627-0444
EMAIL: media@madre.org
October 11, 2005—New York—MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, is working directly with its partners in Guatemala to mobilize emergency support for women and families devastated by recent flooding and mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan.
While Hurricane Stan has wreaked havoc throughout Mexico and Central America, Guatemala has experienced the worst damage. In Guatemala, as many as 2,000 people are feared dead and over 90,000 have been displaced from their homes. In some places, whole towns were entombed under more than 20 feet of mud.
MADRE's sister organization, the Rigoberta Menchú Organization, is responding to the crisis in Indigenous communities around Lake Atitlan-the epicenter of the disaster. Government response in these marginalized communities has been slow and insufficient. Moreover, many of these communities, who suffered through years of violence at the hands of their government during the country's 36-year civil war, are wary of aid offered by the army that once led the genocide against them.
The Rigoberta Menchú Organization, which has earned the trust of local communities over many years of work in the region, is struggling to get medical care, food, clean water, and other basic necessities like blankets to survivors.
MADRE is also partnering with the Bárcenas Women's Committee to secure shelter and basic necessities for women maquila workers and their families whose homes have been destroyed by the storms, and whose community—which lies on the outskirts of Guatemala City—was already marginalized and impoverished well before Hurricane Stan.
The funds MADRE raises will be used to purchase food, water, and blankets for displaced families; to send medical teams into affected communities; and to help families bury their dead with dignity.
Follow this link to make a donation to support Guatemalan women and their families struggling to survive the current crisis.
