Months after hurricanes, many still lack food and clean water

The hurricanes are long gone … but the needs have not gone away.

Even months after Hurricanes Eta and Iota decimated parts of Central America, many families are still struggling without basic necessities.

“Nicaragua is in the midst of a recession, and there are families without food and without housing,” our Nicaragua partner said. “There is no medicine, and we are in the midst of chaos. We are going through the hardest months right now as there are no harvests and there is unprecedented damage.”

Families are now facing these challenges on top of the food shortages, increased poverty, and other increased needs worldwide brought on by a year of pandemic. People in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and around the globe desperately need your help.

And when you donate by March 31, your gift will DOUBLE up to $135,000 to help rescue 2X as many people who are barely surviving.

Clean water is a luxury many people in Central America don’t have right now. In fact, more than 1.5 million children in Central America are still exposed to contaminated water due to wells and pipes damaged in the hurricanes.

But families have no other choice than to drink this dirty water, so their children risk catching deadly waterborne diseases every time they take a sip.

In addition to clean water, food has also become even more scarce.

When our partners first arrived in Nicaragua last fall with critical supplies, many families hadn’t eaten in over four days. Mud and debris covered the fields, destroying the crops they had worked so hard to grow.

In some communities, children often go a week without a full meal.

And food and water sources weren’t the only essentials taken away. Many people also no longer have a place to worship. Hurricanes Eta and Iota destroyed more than 1,500 churches in Nicaragua and throughout Central America.

This disaster is no longer in the news, but people are still trying to recover. They’re still trying to piece their lives back together. And we can’t forget about them.

In Honduras, many families remain homeless. And, during a pandemic, this has made sheltering in place nearly impossible.

And throughout Central America, countless farmers rely on their coffee farms to provide for their families. But powerful winds have uprooted all of their plants. Now, mothers and fathers are struggling more than ever to provide for their children.

Between the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, it’s no wonder that the number of starving people in this region has nearly quadrupled in the last two years.

“The COVID-19-induced economic crisis had already put food on the market shelves out of reach for the most vulnerable people when the twin hurricanes Eta and Iota battered them further,” one U.N. official said.

Life seems to keep getting harder for these families. Many of them still have no jobs. No harvests. No clean drinking water.

And these challenges aren’t isolated only to Central America. A cyclone in India, massive flooding across southern Asia, a volcano eruption in the Philippines, and last year’s explosion in Lebanon have all added to the number of people struggling without the most basic essentials.

Then of course, there are simply those families who were already living in desperate poverty — without enough food, without clean water — even before the pandemic.

But your gift today can help rescue them!

When you donate by March 31, every dollar you give will DOUBLE, thanks to a $135,000 matching gift. That means you will help provide 2X as many people with essentials like food, clean water, medicine, hygiene kits, other lifesaving aid, and more.

Plus, you’ll help avoid a revenue shortfall to ensure men, women, and children around the globe continue to receive the help and hope they need.

You can help them pick up the pieces. You can help them survive. You can be a rescuer!

Help rescue 2X as many people