Central American droughts affect Blair families

In response to the devastating droughts in Central America, many people in the Blair community are joining together to raise money for the victims.

Since early this summer, much of Central America has been plagued by drought. In particular, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have received extremely low amounts of rainfall.

At least 357 Blair students originate from the affected countries, according to the International Student Admissions Office.

Junior Cynthia Rodriguez and her mother, who have family living in Nicaragua, have been working with the Association of Help for Nicaraguans (ANDA) to organize fundraisers.

On Sept 8, the group held a fundraiser to support the victims and collected over $2,000 by selling food at the event. The money raised will be sent to Matagalpa, a Nicaraguan city, to benefit the drought victims, according to Rodriguez.

A second fundraiser was scheduled for Sept 15, but because of the Sept 11 tragedy, ANDA cancelled the event. "Usually at the fundraisers there is dancing and food, but we didn't think that was appropriate because of the disasters that have occurred," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and senior Ludwin Fuentes suggest that students support the effort to help drought victims in Central America. The best way for students to help, they said, is to stay in touch with the Hispanic community and donate money to organizations supporting the countries affected.

The World Food Program estimates that hundreds of thousands of farmers in Central America, many of whom have lost 100 percent of their crops, are in desperate need of aid.

Nicaragua's economy has been severely harmed by the extensive damage caused by the drought. The country depends on cash crops such as coffee to support its economy, but with nearly all of these crops destroyed, it has suffered.

Other Central American countries have also been hurt economically because of the drought. "Most of El Salvador lives off of crops like corn. But, because of the drought, corn isn't able to grow, and the economy has been doing poorly," said Fuentes, who recently visited the country and witnessed firsthand the destruction caused by the drought.

Senior Trevor McKenzie remembers that droughts were a concern when he lived in Honduras in the early 1990s. Plants and crops were susceptible to disease because of the drought, according to McKenzie. "There were plagues that destroyed the crops. They had no defenses since there was no water to strengthen the crops," he said.

To survive, McKenzie and his family had to purchase food imported from neighboring cities and countries. Now, the food shortage and the higher cost of imported crops have prevented many citizens from being able to afford enough food.

In order to help its citizens cope with the severe drought, the El Salvadorian government has attempted to aid victims. "The government was providing people with food and some money, and it was helping the farmers, but that wasn't enough," Fuentes said.