Notes from a volunteer!

This post is from Zoe Matties. I am a recent volunteer from Canada for Mayan Families and I will be volunteering until mid August. Today I was witness to true desperation. We went to the village of Pixabaj, which we had heard was hit badly with mudslides, although nothing could have prepared us for the devastation we saw there. On the 40 minute muddy drive we saw women washing clothes in a small puddle crossing the road and children were filling up 2 liter soda bottles from the gutter to carry home to drink. On the hill overlooking the town we discovered that the community center which was being used for evacuated families had been filled with mud. When we finally got to the town we saw how desperate the people actually were. We were immediately swarmed by women and children asking for help. I was told to stay in the truck because with all the desperate people, it would be too dangerous to go out. When we were finally able to set up the clothes to give out, people started pushing and fighting just to be able to have one little blanket or a pair of shoes. It was heartbreaking not have enough to give to everyone. There is a very big need here. There were 338 homes lost in 8 small villages. We handed out 700 tamalitos but it wasn't nearly enough. We had 25 carton of eggs, but were only able to give out 4 eggs to each family. The items that are most needed right now are:-money for food-sweaters for girls and boys-underwear and socks for girls and boys-shoes of all sizes (but nothing over size 8)