It’s 11:00 am and you wouldn’t believe how hard the scorching sun hits when you’re nearly 7,000 feet up in the mountains of San José Poaquil in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The scene is almost surreal. A community leader, officially appointed by the local government, rides on the back of a pickup truck and through a handheld speaker, he calls out the names of the families in the community one by one.
People come out of their homes and head to the dirt road where they’re surprised to find out that a group is delivering bags containing basic food supplies. The bags should help alleviate the food scarcity that they have faced for several days now, after the community became isolated due to a villager testing positive for COVID-19.
The journey started a few weeks ago. One of the GLP’s Rise Program Local Facilitators, Maribel, found out that her community was being shut out to any form of contact with surrounding communities because a fellow villager had tested positive for COVID-19. There is only one small store in the community and sure enough, it was out of stock within a few hours of the announcement.
GLP staff started searching for support through various initiatives. Through a personal connection, Augusto, the GLP’s Subdirector of Programs, entered a request to the Monte Basán Church in Guatemala City, which was putting together food donations for families in need.
The group made a quick stop at Saquitacaj to deliver food bags to the extended family of a Rise student, who had been placed under quarantine since they had come in contact with a person who happened to be sick with COVID-19. Then, they moved to the community of Nueva Esperanza, where Maribel had already coordinated the logistics for the delivery with the mayor’s office.
At the GLP, we keep finding out that in many communities we serve, having loud speakers is still a very effective way of keeping the families in the community informed! The local leader called out one family after another through the loud speaker and the heads of each home orderly picked up their bags.
In total, 85 bags of food were handed out to families in those communities, including the families of four Rise students!
Most of all, several families told Evelyn and César that they were so thankful that someone had cared about them at a time when many of their neighbors had avoided them and stigmatized them. The presence of people who cared about that community and the gift of food brought new light and new hope to these families who were suffering.
We’ve established an immediate relief fund to support our students who are dealing with extraordinary circumstances during the COVID-19 crisis. Your gift will help bridge the gap during this crisis – providing emergency assistance on a case-by-case basis for students and their families and covering scholarships for students whose sponsors are unable to continue their support.