Mudslides

In mid-July, it started to rain. Two days later, there had been more rain in Guatemala than is usual in an entire year. This unusually high volume of rain saturated the ground, swelled underground rivers, and triggered hundreds of mudslides throughout the mountainous regions. And the rain didn’t stop. It has continued on and off until now, and the rainy season won’t be over until October.

One of the worst hit areas was the area surrounding the mountain city of La Union. In this area, a hundred and thirty acres of earth broke off and slide down the mountain. Different sources state that between twelve and twenty-one people were killed. At least nine of these were children. Besides the death toll, thousands of others have lost their homes, possessions, and crops. After the main slides in July, thousands of people began trekking out of the area, some walking for days over mountain roads made extremely treacherous by the slides.

Much of the affected area will remain unstable until the rainy season is over. In fact, some people predict that La Union, the city of twenty-five thousand that is directly below the worst slide area, will slide off the mounting and be gone by the end of the year. The idea isn’t as far fetched as it seems. Cracks are appearing in the adobe houses as the ground below them shifts. Above the town at the slide site, another large shelf of land is already breaking away and with any amount of rain it will likely come crashing down. To make matters worse, an underground river runs below the area. Running water is clearly audible at the slide site, even though no water can be seen.

Shortly after the main catastrophe in July, the Guatemalan government declared a state of emergency, but rescue efforts were impeded by roads made impassable by mud, rocks, and fallen trees. At least one bridge was also destroyed, further hampering the rescue efforts. It’s now been almost a month since the main slides and there’s been two weeks without any rain, but there are still areas of the road that are hard to traverse. Clean-up is being done, but extensive damage and new mudslides make the work slow.

Do to loss of homes or fear of more deadly slides, an estimated 2500 people are currently living in refugee camps in towns throughout the surrounding area. Schools and churches have been turned into shelters and have been housing people for over a month. Many of these people have lost everything in the mudslides. Local and international relief agencies, as well as the government, have been working to supply them with basic necessities, but their future remains uncertain. Some people believe the government will soon be requiring these people to return home, but if this happens before the end of the rainy season others fear it will be tantamount to suicide.

I visited several of the refugee camps, as well as the town of La Union and the main slide site the day after arriving in Zacapa (August 16th). A group from our church went to distribute donated clothing, food, and medicine. One of the things that stuck me the most, as it has in similar situations before, is the versatility of children. Despite the lose of their homes, the hike from the mountain, and the unsettled nature of their current lives, they were still smiling and playing between chores...and they were always happy to pose for a camera!

Children are not perfect little angels, but I can understand why Jesus used them as an illustration of God's Kingdom. Even amidst trouble, children will so often find joy in life; even through times of difficulty, they can exhibit steadfast hope for the future; and even during great hardship, they will show great trust to those who love them. Joy, hope, and trust: what a lesson that is for all of us!