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At present, three quarters of Guatemalans are living in abject
poverty, while nearly half lack even the most basic services.
The mortality rate, already very high, frequently soars as
a result of outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and malaria,
while malnutrition is increasingly becoming a day-to-day problem.
This central American country ranks amongst the poorest Latin
American states, competing with Haiti and Nicaragua in the
human development stakes.
Even Mother Nature spares little thought for Guatemala. Among
other adversities, the country has 30 active volcanoes which
pose a constant threat to the population, as demonstrated
in May of this year when the Pacaya volcano awoke, to the
alarm of the inhabitants, to blanket the streets of Guatemala
City in ash. And Guatemala not only has to contend with more
than its fair share of lava, but also with recurrent torrential
rains that wreak havoc in the country, producing floods and
landslides that cause devastating damage to the country’s
environment; while forest fires, such as those witnessed this
summer in the northern Petén region, cause irreparable
damage to a unique ecosystem.
Although the civil conflict is now over, the violence still
persists and the social turmoil affecting the entire country
poses a real threat to its fragile stability. In spite of
this, however, there is no denying the effort that Guatemalan
society is making, with the help of various humanitarian organizations
including the Red Cross, to improve the situation. It is as
though, with the signing of the peace accords, the Guatemalan
people have resolved to recapture the essence of the saying
that Guatemala is a country blessed with an eternal spring.
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A Red Cross Society revived by peace
In the late eighties, the Guatemalan Red Cross was caught
in a storm of internal conflict that gradually weakened the
organization to such an extent that the doors of its headquarters
finally had to be closed. Although during this period some
of the branches managed to carry on providing relief for those
in need, it was not until 1996 that a process to reorganize
and revitalize the diminished National Society was set in
motion, with the support of the Federation, the ICRC and the
Spanish Red Cross.
The most recent memories of the Red Cross for many went right
back to 4 February 1976, when a tremendous earthquake shook
Guatemala. Alongside the devastating figures that bear witness
to the extent of the tragedy, there is the memory of a National
Society relieving the suffering of over a million people.
Thousands of tents for the disaster victims, blankets, drugs,
and many other items were distributed by the Guatemalan Red
Cross volunteers.
Today, for many, the image of the bearers of the great red
cross of hope has been revived. As if part of a natural process,
the National Society is also making a comeback at this crucial
moment in time, as peace is consolidated, to fulfil its mandate.
During this year of revival, we have seen, for example, how
over 540 women widowed during the civil war years were cheered
by the sight of Red Cross volunteers arriving in their villages
in the municipality of San Juan Cotzal to give them zinc sheeting
and nails to renovate the roofs of their dilapidated homes.
Thanks to a great effort undertaken by young Red Cross members
1,400 inhabitants of La Pastora, a community located some
150 km from the capital, have been provided with safe drinking
water and running water in their homes and latrines. Schoolchildren
from various communities throughout the country have had fun
learning about first-aid techniques. More than 250 people
living on the lower slopes of the Pacaya volcano were helped
by a team of Red Cross relief workers when the volcano erupted,
threatening to wreck their homes. Guatemalans, who had sought
refuge in nearby Mexico during the conflict, were met at the
border by Red Cross volunteers, who accompanied them on their
journey home, tending to whatever needs arose.
Since the moment that peace was restored, a Spanish Red Cross
team has been in Guatemala, providing support for vulnerable
people, including over 3,000 ex-guerrillas, who were helped
through the difficult process of reintegration into society.
“The truth is that it never occurred to me that something
like this would actually happen. People feel safer now; they
don’t feel the same fear and distrust as before,”
commented Uliser Robledo, cheered by the sight of his new
home being built on the Santa Anita estate, which has been
given to him and 35 other ex-guerrilla families, as part of
a Spanish Red Cross programme.
Uliser is one of the thousands of Guatemalan guerrillas who
have now been demobilized. He was initiated 24 years ago by
his fellow fighters into the guerrilla force to which he belonged
until the day his life took a radical turn, the day he was
sent to one of the demobilization camps. With a shy smile
on his face, he admits, “When we were in the camps some
of my fellow guerrillas cried when they handed over their
arms. But not me.”
Efforts launched by the Spanish Red Cross in Guatemala in
aid of the ex-guerrillas include the distribution of food
and clothes in eight demobilization camps to help them reintegrate
into civilian life and the construction of 232 houses for
those who, like Uliser, have settled on lands provided by
the government.
“Although building peace is the responsibility of all
Guatemalans, international support and assistance is essential
at this early stage when grief and suffering are still deeply
felt,” explains Isabel Barrientos, the Spanish Red Cross
coordinator in Guatemala.
However, the work of the Red Cross in Guatemala has only
just begun. |
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Long-term rehabilitation
Extensive groundwork carried out jointly by the National
Society and the Federation to analyse and identify the problems
shared by the Guatemalan Red Cross and the country’s
most disadvantaged populations served as the basis for a programme
designed at the end of 1997. The programme aims to combine
institutional restructuring tasks with immediate activities
to achieve sustainable development in the country’s
communities. Leopoldo Tavares, the Guatemalan Red Cross president
remarks, “It is not possible to isolate activities aimed
at helping those in need of our services from those aimed
at developing the Society’s institutional basis. Both
processes are essential and must therefore be carried out
simultaneously.”
The resulting scheme, known as the ‘rehabilitation
programme’, is coordinated by a Federation team based
in Guatemala, in conjunction with their National Society counterparts.
With funding from sister Red Cross Societies, including those
of the Netherlands, UK, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Denmark, Iceland,
Spain and Canada, specific capacity building and technical
assistance projects are being set in motion to strengthen
governance and management teams, to reinforce branch capabilities
and to improve disaster response and resource development
strategies.
Other projects involve working with the communities to improve
basic health conditions, to increase disaster preparedness
and to enhance self-help capabilities, including water purification
and mini-projects. At the same time, a participatory planning
process carried out by the National Society recently culminated
in the production of a detailed action plan to be implemented
over the two or more years that the rehabilitation programme
is scheduled to run, in the hope that by that time the path
to stability will have been forged for all Guatemalans to
follow.
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