Social Justice

Our community has suffered greatly because of the mudslide during Hurricane Stan. Many families lost their houses and their farmland. A lot of people died and some children were left as orphans. The majority of our community is now living in shelters, but many of them want to kick us out. The government is building emergency housing close to Panabaj and they say that we will all move there in a couple of weeks. But these houses are made out of thin wooden frames with plastic sheeting for walls. There are super small and poorly made. When the winter winds begin, we're worried that these houses might fall apart. Also, because these houses don't have real window or doors, there won't be any real security for us. Our community does not support this project. We deserve to be treated humanly and give safe housing after loosing everything in this disaster.

At this moment, our community needs a lot of help for those of us who have been affected by the hurricane. The local authorities need to be told to do a better job protecting our community because in these weeks that we have not been allowed to return to Panabaj robbers are going into our houses to steal the little we have left. This is making our situation worse.

We also need help with the construction materials needed to rebuild the houses in our community so that we have someplace to live again. The government needs to be pressured into finding us a safe place to build our houses. Right now they say that we will have to live in these poorly made house se of plastic for a year, but we don't trust them. Three years ago, a mudslide like this destroyed a nearby community and not until recently were they able to move into decent housing. Right after a disaster, the government always makes big promises, but once the emergency passes and the public is focused on other things, they often break them.

Many people in Panabaj lost their crops and now they don't have any way to feed their families. We need help so that we can replant our fields, so that our men can go back to work and so that us children don't suffer from hunger. Also, we don't have a school anymore and many families now don't have the money necessary to send us to school. We need a lot of help to be able to continue our studies. Together we are fighting for justice in our community. ~ Jose Pablo