Volcano Disaster Long-term Recovery Fund

Since the eruption of Guatemala's volcano 'Fuego' on the 3^rd of June 2018 that affected 1.7 million people, many NGOs and private groups have been formed to offer help to the victims of the eruption. While most of these group' efforts targeted on the current well-being of the victims, the government focused on clearing and fixing the adjoining highway which was continually threatened by rain and volcanic debris, and the construction of the so called ATUs, transitional family housing solutions.

After the eruption, the Guatemalan disaster relief agency CONRED had been heavily criticized for not warning the population despite receiving warnings from the INSIVUMEH (National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology), but in fact people residing in the communities adjacent to the volcano had been informed to keep away from the affected ravines, warned of the possibility of lahars and asked to leave their homes.

Due to the disordered development of the communities nearby Volcano Fuego, the deficient infrastructure within the villages and due to a lack of risk awareness among the population, there is even more need to help and prepare this vulnerable population for an impending disaster.

Against this background and in an effort to reach a long-term impact in the communities that have been affected by the eruption, CasaSito launched a project that aims at installing an alarm system in three communities located in zones surrounding the Volcano Fuego that have been deemed extremely dangerous.

Thanks to the Guatemalan Lex Leivas and his Irish partner Helena Ni Mhurchu who installed a first alarm system in the community of La Reina, El Rodeo, Escuintla in 2018, it was possible to alert more than 500 families on the 19^th of November 2018 when the community of La Reina was in an eminent danger due to a new eruption. About 4,000 residents from 10 communities fled, when red-hot rock and ash spewed into the sky and cascaded down the slopes toward the area devastated by the eruption in early June.

In cooperation with Lex Leivas, Lic. Suyapa Velásquez and the leaders of the community of El Rodeo, Santa Rosa and Las Palmas, CasaSito will install three alarm systems and train a small group of each community on how to activate the alarms, conduct simulations, behave correctly in case of a possible evacuation, and raise awareness of the risk among the population. More than 1,500 families residing in the three communities will benefit from this project.

CasaSito is convinced that the project is an effective way of assisting the families living in these dangerous zones long-term and helping them to save the life of their families. At the same time, the project will strengthen the organization and collaboration of the participating communities that have only little community organization and institutional support.

Links:

• http://www.casasito.org