AHAH Guatemala Assessment Update #1

GUATEMALA ASSESSMENT UPDATE FEBRUARY 12, 2021

(Luis Echeverria/REUTERS)

IMPACT OF HURRICANES ETA & IOTA Alta Verapaz, Guatemala

447

SCHOOLS AFFECTED

311,317

PEOPLE EVACUATED

83,540 8,964

HOMES DAMAGED HOMES AT RISK

Context In November 2020, Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota, both Category 4 storms, devastated communities across Central America. Hurricane Eta struck on November 3 and slowly moved across northern Nicaragua and into eastern Honduras, before continuing its path into north eastern Guatemala and the Caribbean on November 6. Just 15 miles away from Eta's landfall, Iota then struck on November 17, and followed a similar path.

Both storms led to significant flooding and landslides across the region, impacting millions of people.

All Hands and Hearts launched a remote assessment immediately. Based on our findings and the varying COVID-19 situation in the region, we have now transitioned to a ground assessment in Guatemala to explore how we can contribute to the response and recovery effort. As of February 2021, extensive unaddressed damage from the two storms is clearly apparent in Guatemala. Some areas are still inundated with water and only accessible by boat, and there are significant humanitarian needs in the sectors of Health, WaSH, Food, Livelihoods, and Shelter.

Assessment Update Our Disaster Assessment Response Team (DART) arrived safely into Guatemala City last week. After a period of isolation and a negative COVID-19 test, the team traveled north to Cobán, Alta Verapaz; one of the hardest hit regions of the country.

During their first week they have visited many different areas and developed invaluable connections with other NGOs, local leaders and government officials. Two team members accompanied World Central Kitchen on food deliveries to impacted communities north of Cobán, and others met with local engineers and architects from San Pedro Carchá to understand current needs and the building designs and approvals process.

The team will continue to foster these connections in the coming weeks to help lead the conversation about potential response and long term recovery projects in the region.

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Potential Scopes of Work Initial conversations with a variety of stakeholders have led to repeated responses that Health, WaSH, Food, Livelihoods and Shelter remain the top priorities for impacted communities.

Based on initial assessments, the team is looking at potential projects related to: ● ●

Sanitation and minor repairs of community structures (schools, clinics, community centers); WaSH-related infrastructure that communities desperately need, not only in response to the recent storms but also in response to COVID-19.

Next Steps Our Disaster Assessment Response Team (DART) is continuing the ground assessment in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala to determine which of the above scopes of work we could engage in to have the most positive impact, and what locations would be most suitable for us to launch a program. Over the coming week, the team will focus on more localized assessments, including the search for potential bases.

About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters.

We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

Photos: (top) map of Guatemala showing numbers of people per region affected by the hurricanes - Alta Veracruz is the large dark red area in the middle, (middle) DART team members with the World Central Kitchen team, (bottom) community of Sanimtaca, taken from the location of the previous school that was completely flooded. The image clearly shows the water line - everything below the green was inundated with water.

We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row. This year only seven percent of rated nonprofits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.

info@allhandsandhearts.org