Help Mexico's flood victims

Yo quiero Yo puedo (IMIFAP) has continued the work with the floods victims of Guerrero and Oaxaca. In addition o addressing the problems caused by tghe floods, we are starting to continue our earlier activities witht the community. 

This time, we want to share a testimony of one the flood victims, Edith:

“My name is Edith and I’m forty years old. I’m from the community of Comaltepec in Guerrero. Yo quiero Yo puedo (IMIFAP) has come here to give us workshops, first the “I want to, I can” workshops. We have learned that if we want something, if we put our mind on something, we can be successful. We have learned (in their workshops) that we can achieve whatever we want.  Principally it has been for the personal improvement, and from there… First we have to personally improve (our lives), and after that we can help and support our relatives, our children, we can guide them to take the best way. They (IMIFAP) have also given us (workshops) about community banks, where we can save and (with the savings) create our own income sources and sources of employment. There we will get to know each other better, as compañeras and can lend each other money from our own bank, first to one, then to the other and so on… At the moment we don’t have a community bank. We were working on that, to create our own community bank, when the floods came. That has held us off, because we have had to dedicate ourselves to the most important things, to our lives, how to survive, to deal with this thing that happened to us.

The things (the floods) got really ugly here. Especially for the people who live outside of the community, near the riverbanks. It got ugly because the river broke down and there were three currents. In this side, that is my area, there were people who got trapped in the fields, on the trees, they couldn’t get of the trees. They had to stay there for one night and one day, and it was only one day after they could be rescued, because the current was very strong. You could not pass there. They tried, but the current damaged things and it was impossible to pass until the other day. And many people lost their houses, the water damaged their houses, made holes in them and  damaged them from below… the majority of the people lost it all… clothes, dishes, personal things, furniture… they didn’t have much things and they lost them all. The water took it all. It was very hard.

We want to thank you, I want to thank you in the name of my compañeros, my community… That you have helped us, from the first day… that you have come and helped us, to see how we were… you have brought us food, clothes, basic things… with the other associations. You have come to help us and we want to give you the thanks. Thank you for your support, both moral and with the basic needs.”