Extreme Poverty Intensifies During Covid Crisis
This family is living in extreme poverty in Los Osorios. They lack running water, electricity, a vented stove, and risk starvation during Covid crisis.
Submitted by Blanca Batzibal, Social Worker
On June 30, July 1 and 2, 2020, food was delivered to 55 families in 10 remote communities and 3 communities near the center of San Martin.
The communities visited were, Lo de Silva, Los Magueyes, Los Osorios, El Rancho, El Sapito, Choatalun, Pacoxpon, Sauce Xejuyu, Las Escobas, El Molino, Barrio San Gaspar, Barrio El Guite and Barrio El Calvario.
In the words of one beneficiary: “I do not know the people who command this but even if I do not know them I ask God to bless them because they have a good heart that helps. You who have come here in my community with this disease that is beating us I ask God to protect you and not to get sick.”
Poverty – The delivery was made to the door of their home without prior notice which allowed us to observe the real conditions in which each family lives day by day. Overcrowding, lack of basic services, location and housing structure makes the life of each member a challenge.
For all of the families the common denominator is POVERTY. It is important to mention that this already existed for these families since long before the pandemic arrived in our country, however, the measures taken by the government made the situation more acute.
Loss of Work means no food – The way of generating income for all families is through agriculture from which they receive approximately Q50.00 per day, and approximately Q150 ($20) per week for three days of work. This being their only income to meet all their needs. However, since the beginning of the restrictions in Guatemala, the little work that existed for these people decreased or ended.
The COVID19 crisis puts families in a state of greater vulnerability and threatens starvation because they do not have the resources to source food. Some families have been able to subsist only with corn (tortillas) and beans that were the products of their previous year’s planting and harvesting.
They have had to ration their food into small portions for the whole family for a longer period of time even if they have to starve.
This is the difficult situation that families are facing since the beginning of confinement, however, we were even more concerned about the situation in which most of the inhabitants of the community Los Osorios live. This villages is approximately 28 km from the center of San Martin.
Only boards for a bed and sleeping close to an open fire to stay warm.
Housing – Majority of the houses are in a state of deterioration and do not meet the necessary conditions to consider it a safe home. There is no electricity, no drinking water and most homes are built with slab wood, adobe and corn stalks and have dirt floors. The beds are only boards built by themselves and there were no mattress. This situation shows the deficiencies and the extreme poverty in which these families live. We observed the same scene in the majority of the houses – beds together and near the open fire.
I must mention that we entered the houses because we had to go through one house to get to the other and some houses consist only of one room so it was possible to observe the conditions. During our tour of the community we identified 26 other families living in these same conditions.
The Lo de Silva community of Patzaj village is approximately 11 kilometres from the center of San Martin. The housing conditions and the poverty level of the families here are similar to Los Osorios described above. The families we visited commented that most were out of work and have had to eat only salt or beans. Our community tour identified 23 families needing help.
The food we delivered was a respite for the 55 families in the midst of this situation. They will be able to rest for a few days without the worry of not having enough food for their family every day. Without selfishness and with a gesture of solidarity they asked us to support others in their village as well.