Oscar's Update On COVID-19 And Its Impact On Guatemala

I hope you are well during the pandemic.

Since mid-March, it has been all confusion, chaos, and uncertainty. 

Unfortunately, we had to suspend all activities.

Our Guatemalan government is led by Dr. Alejandro Giammattei. He and his government decided to close our borders because our country does not have a great capacity to deal with a situation like this. Over the years, our government has been involved in corruption so our systems of economy, health, education and housing have many deficiencies and vulnerabilities. Though we have hope and faith, sometimes we are filled with doubt and fear.

Now we have a total curfew. We cannot use any vehicle, we cannot go anywhere. No banks, no food markets. We have to depend on obtaining food in tiendas close to our homes. The tiendas don't have the basics that we need. These provisions are difficult to understand, but it is important to contain the disease. To date, there have been nearly 2000 confirmed cases and only 35 deaths. These numbers are only what has been recorded. 

But there are also good things: having people who do not abandon us because they believe in what we do for our Guatemalan people. Thank you to the generous people who sent contributions. With this money, we have been able to pay the salaries of all our staff. 

We have also had the opportunity to distribute bags of groceries and masks to many families. To date, we have received donations of 250 bags of groceries and have distributed them in different communities. Unfortunately, we cannot afford do this for all of the 1534 families to whom we have provided a home.

I ask you to help us so that we can continue helping more families. The families that we have benefited lately are very grateful.  If we continue to obtain donations for this purpose, we will provide these families with hope and help them to be less hungry, less worried.

Since 2005, Joe Collins and I have been blessed and grateful for the opportunity to serve the poor.  We hope that all this situation will end soon so that we can continue our mission. We hope to see you in Guatemala very soon.

Thank you all for being part of this noble cause and may God bless you always.

Oscar Mejía