OZ Stakeholder Visit With IsraAID to Guatemala’s Volcano Disaster Aftermath

OZ is a Coalition of Faith-Based and Moral Communities.

In the coming early part of November 2019, Oz Coalition Stakeholder Nurit Greenger will join a week-long IsraAID ‘long-term recovery & resilience in Guatemala‘ field-visit.

It was Sunday, June 3, 2018 when the Fuego Volcano, located 40 kilometers southwest of Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, erupted. The eruption swept away at least five surrounding communities, causing some 190 casualties and 250 missing persons. Subsequently, mass evacuation of some 12,575 people, 50% of them children, took place.

The volcano eruption caused severe structural damage to preschools and primary schools and intact educational facilities were repurposed to become shelters, leaving some 16,000 children out of school in the immediate period following the disaster.

IsraAID’s emergency response arrived in the area one day after the catastrophic eruption and immediately offered water, sanitation and hygiene programming. Additionally, they provided mental health and psychological support in the temporary shelters.

Nine months later, the IsraAID team is still on the ground in Guatemala offering essential assistance to people who were directly affected by the volcano eruption and bolstering the ability of vulnerable communities to bounce back should any future disaster occur.

Guatemala is placed by the World Risk Index as the seventh most vulnerable country in the world. Partnering with Guatemala Ministry of Education, IsraAID is currently implementing risk prevention curricula and facilitator training. This involves creating concrete, inter-sectorial plans for communities to respond to any future crises and how to best support some 67,000 children and their families from 19 schools in the volcano’s vicinity and beyond. More so, IsraAID works with public health groups to provide psychological support to vulnerable communities to prevent long-term traumatic effects.

The field visit will include meeting with IsraAID leadership, disaster risk education and learning about the challenges the local education sector faces; learning about IsraAID mythological approach in Guatemala, bridging efforts between government institutions and NGOs in emergency response; touring the Ground Zero and visiting a new government-built neighborhood and meeting with local organizations.

Join OZ, become a Stakeholder, a member of the faith-moral base community

OZ uses a three prong approach to assist in finding global solutions to the needs of those forcefully displaced and the countries hosting them. For each approach it asks:

• What is best for the refugee?
• What is best for the hosting country?
• How to prepare for the future contribution the refugee will bring back to the country he/she was forced to leave?

OZ helps non-profits, faith-based and local charities already established in the area assisting them to improve and expand their work.

Join OZ in organizing networking and use efficiently the available resources to help others.

Be part of the OZ exceptional global mission.