Cold weather and strong winds affect sponsored families in El Salvador

Henry Flores, Director of Communications Center - El Salvador, wrote the following reflection about recent events affecting sponsored families in his country. You may remember Henry from NCYC, if you attended.

The joy and happiness of Christmas and hope for the New Year have been darkened in the life of many CFCA sponsored families in El Salvador.

During the first week of January, Central America was affected by a cold front and strong winds. The highlands of El Salvador registered temperatures of 5 degrees to 6 degrees Celsius (41 degrees to 43 degrees Fahrenheit) and winds 46 to 50 miles-per-hour, which are not normal conditions for the country.

For some of us, these would not be considered critical weather conditions, but we must remember that many of our sponsored families live in unacceptable conditions, sleeping in homes made from cardboard and plastic materials, rusted metal sheet roofs, two to three children sleeping in the same bed, and surviving, in many cases, on less than a dollar a day. Because of the weather conditions, many sponsored families in the areas of Juayua and Ahuachapán have lost the roof of their house and, in some cases, have lost their entire home.

Our CFCA team in Sonsonate has traveled to the area and is identifying families that have been affected. Currently, more than 20 sponsored families have been identified with housing needs.

To provide a fast and adequate response to the emergency, CFCA’s Santa Ana project is working to find resources from grants and special donations of sponsors. We believe that we will identify more sponsored families that have been affected as we continue visiting communities. Within the following days, we hope to initially invest more than $5,000 in materials to repair or rebuild houses.

The Santa Ana project is also providing access to health care for sponsored children suffering respiratory problems as a result of the cold weather, the dust and inadequate treatment during this time of crisis.

The vulnerability of the poor goes far beyond the fact that they do not have access to proper nutrition or education. Their whole life is fragile. An unexpected illness, accident or natural disaster can affect the stability of their entire life. There is a silent cry coming from people in need around the world, and we must hear their cry and answer with effective, transparent and stable benefits and services for them. We must make our best effort to contribute to change their life and help them reach their desired potential.

May God bless the CFCA worldwide community of compassion, which offers a hopeful response to these families in moments of emergency and through the benefits and services sponsors are offering to them every month.

If you would like to help, you can donate to CFCA's Disaster Assistance Fund. One hundred percent of donations to this fund are sent to CFCA projects to help individuals and families affected by disasters. Funds donated are used where they are most needed, and CFCA retains discretion as to the use of the funds. In addition to emergency relief, contributions may be used for long-term assistance.