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The “Volcano of Fire” Threatens Maya Communities in Guatemala. Again.
Emergency medical brigades carried Direct Relief backpacks to people fleeing the Volcán de Fuego’s two eruptions in three months, often diagnosing them in the field and providing pre-hospital care.
Thousands of Maya people fled from towns and villages in Volcán de Fuego’s shadow as the volcano erupted in the background, first in March and then in June this year. Ash plumes or fiery lava spewing from one of the region’s most active volcanoes sometimes drove people to evacuate in the middle of the night – when injuries from burning ash or from falling in the dark would leave them stranded. Heavy intermittent rains increased the danger.
They’d wait for the emergency medical brigade from Fundación Margarita Valiente, carrying a Direct Relief-issued emergency medical backpack. For many of them, the glow stick provided in the pack became a recognizable symbol: A medical worker was nearby.
“It is something to have a little clinic on your back,” said Dr. Ronaldo Similox, the head of the emergency response and community support NGO, which serves Guatemala’s Maya population, of the field medic packs. “To attend to the trauma, the equipment inside the bag is very, very important for us.”
Providers cared for people with respiratory infections, skin and eye injuries, and mental health symptoms during Volcán de Fuego’s eruptions in March and June. (Courtesy photo)
Dr. Similox said thousands of people had fled eruption events this year. Many others, unable or unwilling to leave their homes behind, needed care as well. Providers at Fundación Margarita Valiente, which operates two clinics in Chimaltenango and supports 20 Maya-focused clinics throughout Guatemala, treated respiratory infections, skin and eye injuries, and urgent mental health symptoms.
People of Mayan descent make up about half Guatemala’s population. They are not a monolithic entity: There are 22 distinct Maya groups, each of which has its own distinct cultural, linguistic, and historical identity. Many of those who live in Volcán de Fuego’s vicinity have no other viable choice. In the aftermath of Guatemala’s brutal, 36-year civil war, and the decades-long genocide of hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Maya people, the volcano-adjacent land was offered to surviving communities, explained Dr. Similox, who is a member of the Kaqchikel people, the second-largest Maya group in the country.
“It’s a very dangerous place,” he said. His patients “have no land, they have no money to have a safer piece of land. Poverty in the population is very high, so they don’t have a place to go.”
About 40% lack electricity, Dr. Similox said – often because their villages are located in such seismically active areas that electrical infrastructure would simply topple over.
Dr. Similox explained that his Maya heritage helps him identify with his patients and understand their needs. Many speak a Mesoamerican language with little or no Spanish, for example, and understanding their customs, beliefs, and even foods helps him provide nuanced and culturally appropriate care. He said Fundación Margarita Valiente also prioritizes hiring and training Maya women professionals.
The goal is to “strengthen their experience and empower their work,” he explained.
An emergency brigade carried Direct Relief emergency medical backpacks to people fleeing Volcán de Fuego’s eruptions in Guatemala. (Courtesy photo)
Fundación Margarita Valiente was founded in the aftermath of Guatemala’s devastating 1976 earthquake, which killed approximately 23,000 people and caused widespread devastation. In the earliest days, Dr. Similox recalled, providers focused on widows and orphans – providing primary and maternal health care and nutritional support for malnourished children. Today, specialty and tertiary care, as well as emergency services and safe shelters for evacuees, are also available to patients. Additional programs support educational and community development. One of the foundation’s two clinics is dedicated to mental health care.
The Guatemalan Civil War caused “many problems with health” that persist today, Dr. Similox said. Because so much genocidal population was focused on men, many women and children were left without husbands and fathers. Today, many of his patients are farmers and weavers struggling to get by.
Volcán de Fuego makes things more complicated. For many people, evacuation means endangering the homes and lives they’ve built, Dr. Similox explained, so providing care to displaced people and those sheltering at home are both essential. The volcano’s extremely high level of activity – its last cataclysmic disruption was recent, in 2018 – is both part of the background and an ever-present danger.
When the volcano erupted in March, Direct Relief provided Fundación Margarita Valiente with 36 emergency medical backpacks, N95 masks, and a range of requested medications and supplies, such as women’s hygiene kits and water purification tablets. All told, Direct Relief has shipped more than $600,000 in material medical aid to Fundación Margarita Valiente since March or this year, and about $10.4 million in medicines, equipment, and supplies since 2009.
Staff at Fundación Margarita Valiente pose for a photo. (Courtesy photo)
Dr. Jose Quinillá Santos, a physician who coordinates local emergency brigade missions, described using his Direct Relief-issued field medic packs during the Volcán de Fuego response to assess patients’ vital signs, perform diagnostics, and provide pre-hospital care to patients who needed more extensive treatment. “The supplies and instruments contained in the backpack are of vital importance,” Dr. Santos said.
Dr. Similox said even the packs themselves are increasingly recognized in his patient community. “When people see these kinds of backpacks, they say help is coming,” he said. “Somebody will help them.”
Luis David Rodriguez contributed reporting to this story.
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