Crisis in the Northern Triangle


 

Perhaps you've heard of the Northern Triangle in Central America which includes Northern Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.  If you've read or watched the news you know that thousands of desperate families are fleeing their homelands. Poverty and violent crime continue to plague these areas without any hope of change coming.  More than half the population in this area lives on less than $4 per day. Youth are particularly vulnerable to predatory street gangs.  Farms fail due to drought, extreme weather and pestilence.  Many men seek employment elsewhere leaving behind wives and children who must survive alone.  Thousands of immigrants risk being robbed or assaulted on migratory routes.

Studio Maya is working to help these women and children in need of support.  We work with weavers to create textiles and products that can produce much needed income.  Your purchase results in money received directly by the artisans working to support their families and communities.  

 

Crisis in Guatemala drives migrants to U.S. border

The scramble continues to find places to house all of the unaccompanied minors who keep streaming across the U.S. southern border. A record 19,000 arrived in March. Thousands of more adults are also risking their lives to try to get in.

CBS News traveled to Central America to learn what's driving the migration.

Campur, a town in Guatemala's highlands, was devastated by flooding in the fall. Beverly Alvarado Cahuec showed CBS News what is left of her home.

"There's nothing," she said of her bedroom. "We threw everything away." 

The entire village was underwater for weeks, hit by back-to-back hurricanes and displacing more than 300,000 Guatemalans. 

"I don't know what to do," Alvarado Cahuec said. 

As a mom, she said she's hopeful that one day her son will be a professional, but the floods destroyed schools and ruined crops. The hit to agriculture took away how most people earn a living. 

Alvarado Cahuec said a lot of people she knows have left for the U.S. She knows that the U.S. border is closed but people are still willing to take a chance because, she said, there's no future for them in Guatemala and they want better conditions for their children. 

So far this year more than 64,000 Guatemalans have been apprehended at the southwest border.

In Campur, Aurora Choc Coc, a single mother of three whose house was gutted, has made the decision to head to the U.S. An opportunity for work is all she's asking for, she said. That means leaving behind her three sons, the youngest who is 2. 

"I don't know if I'll be able to come back one day and hug them," she said. 

Her oldest son is processing the situation for the first time. He said he doesn't have the words to describe how he feels. 

For now, the words between Alvarado Cahuec, who plans to stay in Guatemala, and Choc Coc are goodbye. Choc Coc plans to leave next week, a journey she believes could last a month as she heads to Houston, nearly 1,600 miles away. 

For those who remain, progress on rebuilding is slow and there are already concerns about the upcoming hurricane season. 

 

For a deeper drive read here http://www.fao.org/emergencies/crisis/dry-corridor/en/.