Thank you to everyone contributing to this fundraising effort. Nina Jorgensen, the Director of Vamos Adelante ( http://www.vamosadelante.org/the-foundation), who is on the ground in the disaster area, sent along the following update on Wednesday morning, June 6:
“Another eruption took place yesterday afternoon, this time towards Escuintla. Many thinking they were safe in shelters were relocated from one moment to the next . More shelters are being set up. [The villages] Zapote and Santa Marta were evacuated.”
The worst fear is also being realized: “It has begun raining. Debris and huge boulders are coming down in the Chiguate (river between Zapote and Santa Marta). Weather forecast –much more rain.”
Nina also reports that neighboring villages that have not been evacuated are also suffering greatly and have a long recovery period in front of them. With no entry into these areas due to the eruption, food supplies are getting short. The water sources are contaminated, main food crops (corn and beans) and primary income sources (banana leaves for making tamales) were destroyed, and tin sheet roofing has been ruined by the eruption.
We have moved our funding goal up in an effort to better support the growing number of people affected by the Fuego disaster. Funds raised will go directly to Vamos Adelante, which has served these communities at the foot of Fuego for more than 20 years. Thank you again for your concern and support.
Vamos Adelante 