Dear friends,
The 8 Tijax Collective and Todos por Guatemala/All for Guatemala would like to thank you for your solidarity with the families of the girls that died in the Virgen de La Asunción fire in Guatemala. When we reached out to you at the beginning of July to raise funds for these families to support them to better face the COVID pandemic, we were aiming to raise CAD $ 1000. But within less than two weeks we raised CAD $ 2100.00! Thank you so much for your solidarity with the families and the continuing struggle to make Guatemala a more just society.
Below is the letter sent by the 8 Tijax Collective.
In Peace and solidarity,
July 17, 2020
Compañeros and compañeras of Todos por Guatemala/All for Guatemala:
We send you a fraternal greeting from Guatemala, wishing you all much health.
As you know, the current situation in Guatemala it is quite difficult, as Covid-19 is affecting thousands of people, economically and especially health wise. In this context, the families of the deceased girls and survivors of the State run shelter Hogar Virgen de la Asunción have been affected in many ways, primarily economically as well as facing health issues.
We approached your organization, exposing the situation and these families’ needs so as to be able to support them. At that time, only one person had tested positive with the Corona virus and the greatest need was mainly food for the families, (which continues to be a limitation); but, since then, there are now several families that have tested positive and the hospitals are not testing nor receiving patients, unless they are dying. Of that account, the cases that tested positive were sent home and survived with the medicines that they were prescribed, possibly because the virus wasn’t so aggressive. Some know that they are infected with the virus not because they were tested, but because they were asymptomatic with just a small fever and the loss of smell and taste. We are sad to report that one person has died, a member of Ana Noemí Galindo’s family (one of the girls who died in the shelter fire) who live in the department of Escuintla.
We know that the curve is rising and that cases of people who test positive to the virus and the deaths are not all registered in government records, because the cases I mentioned have not been recorded. We believe that there are thousands more such cases in Guatemala and we are preparing for the worst.
We know that Todos por Guatemala/All for Guatemala made a tremendous effort to collect Q. 11,700.00 (CAD $ 2,100.00). These funds have reached us at a very crucial time: a part will be used to buy food for approximately 28 families while a portion will be kept as an emergency fund, which allowed us to attend two emergencies that were recently faced by the families.
We would like to particularly acknowledge the compañeros Marcella B. and Julio C. for maintaining communication with us and for doing everything possible to mobilize this campaign and to send us the funds. On behalf of Collective 8 Tijax, we are deeply grateful for your support and we want each and every one of you that contributed with your grain of corn, to know that it will contribute to bringing food to a table and medicine to those in need within the families of the girls of the state shelter fire.
We will keep you informed. We send you an immense hug!
Coordinators
Colectivo 8 Tijax Guatemala
