About the Fund

Help on way to stricken Guatemala

Friday, October 28, 2005, BY KAREN LEE ZINER, Journal Staff Writer

A coalition has formed to accept donations and send aid to Latin American countries hit by disasters.

PROVIDENCE -- Edna Mendez's son lives to the left of the river in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. That saved his life during the recent floods and mudslides that killed at least 700 people in that country, and displaced up to 150,000.

Mendez, a factory worker and one of thousands of Guatemalans who live in Rhode Island, reached her son by cell phone (land lines were down) days after the flooding. He told her he survived because the mud flowed to the right of the Rio Samala.

"He is alive. Thank you God, he is all right," said Mendez. "But he has no chance to work. He cannot drive his taxi. There is no gasoline. No bank is working." Roads are blocked. Bridges are out. Food supplies are dwindling.

As the anguish of hurricane victims in the South, and of earthquake victims in Pakistan have dominated the news, the plight of Guatemalans, Mexicans and Salvadorans affected by Hurricane Stan have taken a back seat.

But a new coalition -- "The Latin Solidarity Committee for Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador" ("Comité de Solidaridad Latina pro Guatemala, Mexico y Salvador"), has formed in Rhode Island to send aid to stricken areas.

The group is setting up a standing committee that can respond to any disaster that occurs in Latin America, according to its organizers.

The group first met Oct. 18 at Club Juan Pablo Duarte; a second meeting was held this week at the Center for Hispanic Policy & Advocacy (CHisPA). Both are in Providence.

"We started this group because of the tremendous need the people of Guatemala, Mexico and Salvador have," said Miguel Sanchez-Hartwein, coalition spokesperson and CHisPA's executive director.

Sanchez-Hartwein said the coalition is seeking donations from the public in Rhode Island, of money, medicine, food, water and clothes.

"We know that people are tired. People are maxed out. We acknowledge that. And here in Rhode Island, people have been getting flooded everywhere," he said. "But we are talking about countries they don't have the infrastructure and they don't have the government assistance.

"We are talking about the very neediest -- the indigenous communities that we haven't been able to access," Sanchez-Hartwein said. "Places in Guatemala that are very isolated, and in southern Mexico.

Sanchez-Hartwein said an account has been established at Citizens Bank, that has the same name as the group, "Comité de Solidaridad Latina." CHisPA will be the fiscal agent, and donations will be tax deductible.

Angie Henderson Moncada, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Red Cross, joined the new coalition on her own.

"The story [of Hurricane Stan's effects] has sort of fallen through the cracks," she said. "I'm really excited to be involved."

Moncada said the kind of assistance the Red Cross can provide includes processing disaster welfare inquiries to help locate family members.

The American Red Cross has sent volunteers to the affected areas, said Moncada, "and we're also sending funds through our international" agency.

According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, nearly 750 people have died in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan. In some cases, the mudslides buried entire villages. El Salvador and Guatemala have also experienced recent seismic and volcanic activity.

A fundraiser last Saturday initiated by the Aliance Por Guatemala, St. Teresa Church in Olneyville, the Hispanic Ministry of the Catholic Diocese and the Guatemalan-American Alliance of Rhode Island that was held at La Cascada restaurant in Cranston, raised money, clothing, food and other donations.

Juan Garcia, one of the organizers, said ,000 was raised, and enough medicine, clothes and food to fill half a container truck.

Since then, Garcia's group that organized the fundraiser has joined forces with the new coalition, said Sanchez-Hartwein.

The coalition includes CHisPA, Habitat for Humanity, Progreso Latino, Alianza Por Guatemala, the Association Guatemalteca Americana de Rhode Island, Association Mexicana, Club Juan Pablo Duarte, the Dominican-American Association, the Hispanic United Development Organization, Quisqueya en Acion, Video Guatemala, and Guatemaltecos Unidos en Acion.

Sanchez-Harwein said medicine, clothing, food and other donations will be shipped to Guatemala in December on an 18-wheel truck, provided by Oficen Vios in Providence.

Donations of medicine, food and clothing are being collected at ChisPa at 421 Elmwood Ave. in Providence. Checks can be made out to the Comité de Solidaridad Latina, Account No. 18964311/Citizens Bank, and brought or mailed to the Center for Hispanic Policy & Advocacy, 421 Elmwood Ave., Providence, RI 02907.