Difficult times in Guatemala – May/June 2010

President Colom has declared Guatemala in a state of “national calamity”  after an earthquake, an errupting volcano, the capital being covered in raining black sand and a tropical depression hitting the northwest coast.

After more phone calls and emails than usual and over 1000 views just this morning to a blog I’ve only posted on once this year… I thought I should give an update with a quick summary of some links.

In ENGLISH:

The Guatemala Times is not the best place for news, but does pick up big events and offers dramatic perspective

I am adding this link in later in the day as this report is both in English and more updated that much of the content I put up this morning.  This is currently on the home page for THE GUATEMALA TIMES website

Fox News covers TROPICAL STORM AGATHA.  I was disappointed that most of the comments on this were wether or not the photo was fake.

In SPANISH from PRENSA LIBRE:

Every few hours these numbers seem to go up, but it’s currently over 115,000 who have been evacuated or are stranded due to over 100 landslides, 18 major bridges destroyed and over 100 bridges including minor bridges on dirt roads and footpaths that hinder daily life and commerce. 152 have died 90 missing.

22,000 homes damaged or destroyed

Largest highways in the country shut down

Another sinkhole.  100 ft deep in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood.  This is in addition to the one I posted 3  years ago here

Food shortage in northwest region in and around Huehue due to damage from heavy waters

If you get on you tube and search “lluvia de arena guatemala” or “lluvia de cenisa guatemala” you’ll find lots of raw live footage from last Thursday night May 27, 2010 where it rained black sand.  Click on this link to see a clip I came across where someone simply walked around a neighborhood the next morning.

How are we at FVH?  Well many roads are damaged and this will make transport challenging.  We are fine.  As a people the community is doing well.  I am in touch with Eliceo who is in charge at the finca.  And aside from not seeing the sun for 2 weeks straight all is o.k.  I look forward to sharing more Eliceo soon.  I just returned from Guatemala back to Bellingham 2 weeks ago and might have returned Friday morning to catch the final day of the Cup of Excellence and catch up with some producers however the airport has been shut down for four and a half days.  The airport only has about 3000 people going through it a day so today as it will likely open there will be over 12,000 people waiting to fly in or out of an already over crowded tiny airport.

We have coffee at Cofeco in Huehuetenango and at SUBE in Guatemala city with shipments ready to go, but we’re holding back at the moment until things clear up and we feel comfortable with the associated risks.  Most of my family lives in Guatemala city which is in some ways continues business as usual but for many life is in a state of chaos.  Guatemala is not a country where the physical needs of most are well met.  These additional hardships don’t make things any easier.  Much of the entrepreneurial spirit and optimism that emerges out of Guatemala comes out of necessity.  If you’ve read this far and you’re wondering how you can help.  You can visit, sometime when the airport is not shut down, and drink good coffee.  Tourism and coffee are the #1 and #2 sources of revenue for Guatemala.