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LETTER TO DONORS
It is now some time since you generously contributed to the Central America
Hurricane Relief Appeal (CAHRA). One of the members of the CAHRA
committee - Maeve - had the opportunity to visit the region recently and
has been able to bring us first hand accounts and direct messages from the
communities who benefitted from your donations.
"Almost all of the groups we supported voiced the same concern: apart from
the help they received from CAHRA, no other assistance had reached them."
This was particularly the case in villages such as La Dalia, El Polvoncito
and El Sauce, all of which are quite remote. They are now facing even
more serious times ahead as the bridges which ensure their communications
with the rest of the country have not yet been reconstructed and the rainy
season is fast approaching. For this reason we were pleased to be able to
provide US$4,000 to the Women's Committee in El Sauce to establish a
rotating credit scheme for the purchase of milk cows and fruit trees, which
will help the economic sustainability and nutritional welfare of this
community even when they get cut off by the rains.
Many of the individuals Maeve met expressed great anger at the distribution
of much of the official aid. "In Posoltega - the area which was devastated
by the volcanic mudslide - Cristina Rodriguez showed me a temporary
settlement of survivors. Nearby an internationally funded relief housing
project was underway. But, as she explained, most of the homeless
villagers would be unable to benefit, as the houses were to be sold rather
than donated, and no credit was available". Meanwhile in El Polvoncito,
CAHRA money has been used by families who are rebuilding their houses. One
family that Maeve met whose house was completely destroyed by a falling
tree, had had to live for several weeks in the chicken coop, as there was
no other shelter available.
Many people spoke of the growing movement of protest against the
diversion of international aid away from the most needy, and its
concentration in the hands of a few profiteers. We may expect to hear
more of these protests in coming months.
The projects which CAHRA has supported are much more than relief
assistance. They are community development programmes planned and
implemented by the people themselves, and, as such, are guaranteed to
respond to their most felt needs. Experience has shown that such projects
have a much higher success rate and lead to more sustainable development.
All of our partner organisations have proven awareness of the importance of
local participation, the direct involvement of women in the planning and
management of the projects, and several of them have a strong environmental
education focus. We consider that these are factors which will also help
to ensure the long-term viability of the projects which we have funded.
To date, over £56,000 has been raised, and funds continue to come in. An
initial disbursement of US$8,500 was sent to provide emergency food and
supplies to 5 areas in Nicaragua which we were in direct contact with
immediately following the hurricane. Most of the funds have been used to
support projects for food production - especially the purchase of seeds,
animals etc. Three projects were for repair of water supply and latrines,
while others involved economic activities such as a ceramics workshop, a
local co-operative shop and the reconstruction of a community centre. In
Malpaisillo, CAHRA supported the local women's organisation to set up an
emergency counselling service for the many people traumatised by the loss
of members of their families, their homes and by the overall devastation of
their lives.
The long-term prospects for many of the communities that we have assisted
is bleak. Hurricane Mitch hit a region already devastated by what
Guillermo Medrano Olivares of Matagalpa referred to as "Hurricane IMF".
The policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
have had a serious effect on the provision of even the most basic health
and education services, while their economic strategies have benefited only
a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs. The help which CAHRA can provide is
minimal in the face of such overwhelming adversities, but, as Cristina
Rodriguez (whom many Irish people will have met when she visited Ireland
some years ago) says: in her area of Chinandega "the situation is
terrible, but we feel that the only hope is in solidarity; because it gives
us great strength to continue fighting".