Mercado Global

A crowd gathers while a shipment of emergency food and supplies is unloaded.

While our Guatemala team is traveling through communities that have yet to see relief efforts, our New Haven office has been tracking news, efforts, and spreading the word on a cause that seems to have fallen under the radar with so many news sources and aid organizations. Everyone here at Mercado Global has been working together to get aid quickly into Guatemala’s Highlands, whether our job titles include the words “Production”, “Operations”, “Development” or “Executive”.  By the end of the day today, we will have provided six weeks emergency food and supplies to the families in our partner communities that need it and partnered with www.aidg.org to bring their engineering team into the communities where we work to fix the water systems.

While this is an excellent start, it is just that: only a start. For the families with no food for their children, no roof over their head, and only memories of their friends and relatives, the effects of Tropical Storm Agatha will not be forgotten in a few weeks or even months. It is important to recognize the severity of the long term issues that arose as a result of the current storm.

Hundreds of families living in the Highlands have lost their homes and possessions in landslides. Thousands more have lost all their belongings and food supplies in the flooding. Displaced families will need food and shelter.  And millions will need longterm food aid or an alternate income stream now that their crops have been lost.

Tropical Storm Agatha has destroyed many homes, and has damaged valuable crops and water supplies.

Possibly the most devastating aspect of Tropical Storm Agatha is that the entire food and coffee crop in the Highlands has been destroyed. That means that while we grapple with the threat of cholera (from the many destroyed water systems) and hunger among the displaced now, a major famine is on the horizon in the region when there is no crop to harvest and no coffee crop to bring in a few months from now.  After the devastation that occurred last week, major outside assistance is needed to ensure families have income and enough to eat in the coming months.

I urge everyone who is reading this to share the situation in San Antonio, Chaquijaya, and the communities of the Highlands with your friends and loved ones. While unfortunately this is not the only natural disaster in the media, it is not one to be forgotten.  If you would like to donate to Mercado Global’s relief fund please click here. You may also donate by sending a check to the below address:

Mercado Global

Attn: Agatha Relief Fund

20 Mitchell Dr.

New Haven, CT 06511

We are extremely thankful to everyone who has already contributed to this effort. It is only with your donations that we are able to provide a meaningful impact to the families in our partner communities.

To see more photos of the situation in the Highlands from the Mercado Global team, visit our facebook page by clicking here.