During the pandemic, a state of emergency was declared in Guatemala. Countless families, who were already living at subsistence level before the crisis, could now no longer keep their heads above water. With a white flag they finally signaled the unbearable hunger and the urgent need. Therefore, with the help of donations and a team of local volunteers, we delivered food packages to needy families. We relied completely on the assessment of local people, who could best judge the need. The packages contained 2.5 kg of corn flour, 2 kg of rice, 2 kg of beans, salt, sugar, oil, noodles, toilet paper, matches, soap and nutritious drinking powder. This ration was enough for a family of six for about a week and cost the equivalent of about 10 swiss francs.
Friends and family in Guatemala helped with shopping, packing and delivery. As a next step, they organized a selection of families in the respective towns who are in particularly precarious situations due to unemployment, many children, single parents, illness, etc. As arranged, the prepared bags were then driven and delivered by a pick-up truck to the selected towns.
Each bag was thus personally handed over by the team of helpers, who could therefore create their own picture of the circumstances and the dwellings on site. Of course, everything was done on a voluntary basis and the local helpers only received a small amount of money for gas and regularly one of the food packages as a small thank you.
The support has not only brought countless grateful faces, but overall:
23 974 Swiss francs from donations
2 367 food packages
approx. 2 200 supported families
