Arrival of Christmas groceries following Hurricane Kappa, 12/23/2020

Dear Friends and Family,

By now, everyone in the U.S. has heard of the damage that Hurricane Ian has wrought in Florida and South Carolina. Central America, too, is being battled during this powerful hurricane season. In rural Guatemala, there is no refuge. There is no emergency shelter. There is no way out. And, the food supply is dwindling under the powerful, pelting rains.

While many of the homes have adequate roofs, made of tin, there is so much volume of rain that it is seeping between the walls of the homes and the floor, which is made of dirt. Therefore, the only protection is to elevate one’s belongings. Take a look at this video of a family struggling to keep everything above water level inside their home: 

Click on the photo of the flooded home to see a 1.5 minute video of the rains coming in

Outside the home is worse, and many roads are impassable, with mudslides and sections of the highway caving in, even after the rains in that region have stopped. This is true across Guatemala.

Here is a photo on the road to Chimaltenango in another region of Guatemala:

Photo source: Amigos de Fundamaya Facebook page, 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2070493639664917

Here is a photo in a section of the capital, Guatemala City:

Sinkhole in the Villa Nueva section of Guatemala City, 9/24/2022 (ElPeriódico Guatemala)

Throughout 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic and during Hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020, Sowing Opportunities delivered a total of 12½ tons of groceries to this village of 3,000 inhabitants. This effort continued in 2021 until Mother’s Day when we turned our focus to the greenhouses project.

The greenhouses are staying intact, thanks to the elevation of the tables from the ground and the protective plastic sheeting as a “roof.” But the people cannot leave their homes because they cannot travel on flooded roads.

We are praying that the rains stop very soon, and we are also planning to deliver groceries to the village of Chajmaic, where we have our greenhouses project.

Our target date of delivery is in one week, on Sunday, October 9. We are raising funds with a goal of $3,000 to deliver groceries to the entire village during this very difficult time.  

Christmas groceries delivery following Hurricane Kappa, 12/24/2020

We have been raising funds through local fairs for 30 new families to begin greenhouses in January and that will continue, after hurricane season. The funds that we are now requesting are for emergency purposes, to make sure the people in the village don’t starve and are not forgotten.

Can you help us with this effort?

100% of funds raised go towards helping the people of Chajmaic to get necessary provisions. Sowing Opportunities does not take a percentage.

Please share this email with others.

Our contact email is info@sowingops.org.

Thank you! And, in Q’echqi’ language, Bantiox!

Sowing Opportunities Project Manager Ricardo visiting one of the 30 greenhouses, August 3, 2022