Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Appeal - Guatemala
Emergency Relief to Hurricane "Iris" victims- LAGU12
Appeal Target: US$ 246,239
Geneva,  18 October 2001


On 8 October Hurricane Iris reached Guatemalan territory, after causing
major destruction and loss of life in Belize.  As it struck the mainland
its destructive force diminished considerably, but the damages caused to
the South of Petén department, specifically in the municipalities of
Poptún, San Luis and Sayaxche, were disastrous.  Hurricane Iris seriously
damaged houses, communal infrastructure and crops as well as cutting the
electric power, radio and telephone services.  The hospital in Poptún lost
parts of its roof, although it was able to continue functioning.

The damage caused by Hurricane Iris was largely due to the devastating
winds and the storm surge. The rainfall was only 3-4 inches but caused
flooding in localized areas. In spite of the hurricane intensity, the loss
of life was low - 5 persons, while less than 100 were injured. It is
estimated that approximately 27,500 persons were directly affected and
will be at risk for adverse health conditions in Peten.

ACT member, LWF/DWS Petén office, is proposing to support the affected
population in the Petén region of Guatemala, providing:

  Food supplies
  Medicines
  Shelter
  Seeds


Project Completion Date: 15 April 2002

Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance
Requested


                                           US$

Total Appeal Target(s)                 246,239
Less: Pledges/Contr. Recd.                   0
Balance Requested from ACT Network     246,239


Ms. Genevieve Jacques		Thor-Arne Prois		Rev. Rudolf Hinz
Director			Director, ACT		Director
WCC/Cluster on Relations				LWF/World Service



REQUESTING ACT MEMBER

Lutheran World Federation/Department of World Service (LWF/DWS)


IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER INFORMATION

The Lutheran World Federation / Department for World Service has been
working in El Peten, Guatemala, since September 1998 implementing
activities related to education, health, youth, food security and
community organization. The El Peten office is under supervision and
orientation of the LWF/DWS El Salvador Program, which has been involved in
emergency situations such as the hurricane Mitch (1998), dengue epidemic
fever (1999), earthquakes (2001) and the recent drought in Central
America.

Since the beginning of the work in El Peten, the LWF/DWS regional office
has established co-operation and co-ordination with indigenous
communities, grassroots organizations, governmental institutions, catholic
churches and local and international NGOs. The work is focused on direct
support to local communities to increase their capacity for rehabilitation
and development activities.

LWF/DWS Peten office has already carried out two ACT emergency projects:
rehabilitation of communities affected by the Hurricane Mitch, in 1999,
and another project in 2001 to assist families deported from Belize.

LWF/DWS regional office has technical and professional personnel, as well
as the infrastructure to deal with the current emergency.  Bilingual staff
will be in charge of assistance to indigenous communities that do not
speak Spanish.


DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION

On 6 October, Hurricane Iris - classified as a category 1 hurricane -
threatened Belize advancing to a category 4 by the night of 7 October.
Iris continued in a westward direction with sustained winds of 140-mph
moving at around 20 mph, putting Belize and Guatemala at risk.

On 8 October Iris reached Guatemalan territory, after causing major
destruction and loss of life in Belize.  As it struck the mainland its
destructive force diminished considerably, but the damages caused to the
South of Petén department, specifically in the municipalities of Poptún,
San Luis and Sayaxche, were disastrous.  Hurricane Iris seriously damaged
houses, communal infrastructure and crops as well as cutting the electric
power, radio and telephone services.  The hospital in Poptún lost parts of
its roof, although it was able to continue functioning.


Impact of the Hurricane Iris

The damage caused by Hurricane Iris was largely due to the devastating
winds and the storm surge. The rainfall was only 3-4 inches but caused
flooding in localized areas. In spite of the hurricane intensity, the loss
of life was low - 5 persons, while less than 100 were injured. It is
estimated that approximately 27,500 persons were directly affected and
will be at risk for adverse health conditions in Peten.

The hurricane caused extensive destruction to housing and food supplies.
Those most affected are remaining in their damaged, roofless and flooded
houses without food or potable water.  Due to reported looting and fear of
losing their few remaining possessions, people are reluctant to leave
their homes.

According to official data 724 houses were completely destroyed and 1,345
partially damaged in the municipality of San Luis. 50 schools were also
destroyed and the number of affected families surpasses 2,000, in 57 rural
communities.

In the municipality of Poptún preliminary data indicate 854 houses
destroyed with more than 1,500 damaged and 40 community buildings
destroyed. The number of affected families surpasses 2,500 in
approximately 50 communities. These data do not include the urban areas.

In the municipality of Sayaxche the damages were smaller and concentrated
mainly in rural communities.  In this municipality the hurricane affected
only 8 communities and left 120 houses destroyed.

Agriculture is the principle economic activity in Peten with the main
crops being maize and beans.  It is reported that more than 75% of the
crops were lost in the affected communities.  Furthermore, the villagers
are traumatized due to the massive loss of property and there is a high
level of distress, anxiety and helplessness among the villagers and local
authorities.

The high-priority needs of the affected families are food, shelter,
medicines to prevent epidemics and potable water. For the rehabilitation
phase secure roofs, seeds and agricultural inputs for sowing basic grains
will be necessary.



GOAL & OBJECTIVES

The main goal is to provide life-sustaining assistance and hope to 1,568
vulnerable families affected by Hurricane Iris in rural zones and the
poorest villages in the municipalities of San Luis, Poptun and Sayaxche,
through provision of food, shelter, communal first-aid kits and seeds.


The specific objectives are to:

Provide emergency relief in the form of food, shelter material and medical
assistance

Promote organization in communities to channel and distribute aid to the
affected families

Reorganize the productive capacity and improve the food security of these
communities.

Provide technical assistance during the sowing and harvest phases.

Strengthen community organizational structures.



The main criteria to carry out these activities are the following:

To involve the affected people in the whole emergency and rehabilitation
process to promote their self-esteem and emotional recovery;

To give priority to vulnerable groups (single mothers, elderly people,
children, handicapped people, etc.)

To strengthen community organization

To coordinate the activities with the mayors' offices.




BENEFICIARY INFORMATION & TARGETED AREAS

The estimated number of beneficiaries is 1,568 families (9,408 people) in
46 communities in the municipalities of San Luis, Poptun and Sayaxche,
department of El Peten.

LWF/DWS has presence in most of the selected communities through other
current projects. The communities and number of beneficiary families are
detailed below:

Sayaxche

No.
Community
Families

1
Las Delicias
15

2
La Soledad
20

3
Nuevo Cobán
10

4
Caribe Salinas
25

5
Tierra Blanca
17

6
San Román
18

7
Colonia Susan Mitch
15

 TOTAL
120


San Luis
No.
Community
Families

1
Santa cruz
395

2
Florida
59

3
Cruce Poxte
15

4
Esquipulas
27

5
Espolón
53

6
Santa Marta
45

 TOTAL
594


Poptun
No.
Community
Families

1
Santa Amelia
10

2
Carmelita
18

3
Santa Rosa II
23

4
Santa Maria Sechacte
61

5
Secolay
15

6
Chocon
43

7
Rosario
30

8
Jabalí Bravo
12

9
Sutiha
15

10
La Ceiba
20

11
San Marcos
15

12
Ovelar Limón
12

13
Los Encuentros
20

14
Nueva Concepción
 17

15
Nueva Alianza
18

16
Esquipulas
36

17
Chinahá
40

18
San Pablo China
19

19
Nueva Sutiha
15

20
San Marcos Patux
15

21
San Antonio Chumacté
27

22
Santa Lucia
24

23
Río Corozal
40

24
Cobanerita
25

25
Las Pacayas
25

26
Semuy
18

27
Las Flores
14

28
La Compuerta
85

29
Concoma
12

30
Sabanetas
48

31
Mameyal
25

32
Tanhoc
42

33
Canchacan
15

TOTAL
854



Criteria for selection

The LWF/DWS defined three basic criteria for selecting the beneficiary
families and affected zones:

 - The most affected and poorest areas
 - Communities where official aid is not arriving
 - Communities where the LWF is already working





PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

The assistance is being carried out in two phases:

Phase I - Immediate emergency response (one month) assisting with: food,
shelter, medicines and evaluation of damages along with technical
analyses.

Phase II - Rehabilitation (6 months, overlapping with phase I), involves
minimum housing, community organization and recuperation of productive
capacity.


Immediate Emergency Response

A basic basket food for one week will be delivered to each family. Each
basket will contain 8 pounds of beans, 10 pounds of rice, 1 liter of oil,
5 pounds of corn flour, 5 pounds of sugar, 3 pounds of coffee and 6 pounds
of "incaparina". The "incaparina" is a multivitamin cereal for children
from 1 to 10 years.

Medicines as needed and each community will receive a first-aid kit, with
the objective of preventing epidemics. These first-aid kits will be under
the responsibility of the health promoters of each community.

Provisional shelter (plastic sheeting). Each family will receive eight
yards of plastic sheeting for basic shelter.



Rehabilitation

Minimum housing for families with houses completely destroyed. Each family
will receive sixteen sheets of zinc and four pounds of nails, so they can
build a provisional or basic housing unit.  Each family will provide the
wood for the construction, which is available in the communities.

Development of productive capacity (income generation and agricultural
production). The families will receive seed for cultivation of 1 manzana
of maize and 1/2 of beans, to assure basic feeding for next summer. In
Petén the next sowing phase starts at the beginning of November.



Implementation

A preliminary assessment of needs has been made by the LWF/DWS staff based
in the El Peten office. Governmental organizations have carried out
assessment visits only in the major towns of the department of Peten.  In
the municipality of Poptun a co-ordination mechanism was established and
co-ordinated with the mayor's office.  LWF/DWS sent three assessment
groups to visit the affected communities.  Co-ordination with the
mayorships was established for the data collecting process.

All phases of the emergency work will be oriented towards strengthening
the community organization, with the intention of developing local
capacities and improving the community capacity for negotiation and
discussion with local authorities and the State.

To facilitate the execution of this process, two technicians with
experience in community organization and agriculture will be hired.  They
will be responsible for co-ordinating with each of the communities
involved .  To facilitate mobility the technicians will use motor cycles
between the widespread communities being assisted.



The proposed activities are as follows:

To evaluate the situation of each family, and establish detailed lists of
those to receive assistance.  The local population will participate in the
decision making process.

To carry out a technical evaluation of damages in the selected
communities.

To determine the levels of organization in each community and, according
to the results, either support the existing processes or begin new ones.

To determine in each community the control and follow-up of activities,
which will allow for the monitoring of the proposed plans, as well as show
the results of the various activities carried out.




The project will be implemented using the following criteria:

There will be an orientation for all new staff regarding ACT principles.

All technicians, promoters hired to work in the communities will be
instructed to respect the Code of Conduct and the Minimum Standards
(SPHERE) within the project's area of operation.

There will be training activities to empower local organization.

The members and community organizations will be included in all
decision-making processes, beginning with the first phase project
planning.

The LWF/DWS El Salvador office will monitor the implementation.

The co-ordination of financial reports will be carried out by LWF/DWS
Guatemala and El Salvador.

The materials and supplies will be purchased locally and regionally.

There will be co-ordination with community organizations and the
government in the implementation of programs in the beneficiary
communities.

The project will take into consideration the principles of gender,
environment and strengthening of local capacity.




The planning, implementation and evaluation will be carried out by the
LWF/DWS Peten office, along with local beneficiaries.  A technical team of
LWF/DWS will be responsible for supervising all planning, implementation
and monitoring activities.  The promoters will train local communities and
facilitate their work.




ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING

Administration & Finance

LWF/DWS El Salvador has comprehensive experience in planning, implementing
and monitoring relief and rehabilitation projects. It has well-established
internal administration, personnel, financial and material management as
well as reporting systems. The head office in San Salvador will be
responsible for the overall administration of the project.  LWF/DWS
personnel will carry out general monitoring of the relief program. Head
office will send both financial and narrative reports to Geneva as
requested in the ACT guidelines.



Monitoring

The LWF/DWS regional office in Petén is structured to deal with all
aspects related to financial control and reporting. The technical team
responsible for the execution of the normal program will be in charge of
supervising and monitoring the two technicians that will be hired for the
execution of the emergency project.  The regional office coordinator will
also supervise and carry out training activities at community level.

An audit will be carried out when concluded the project.


The project has two mechanisms for evaluation:

Evaluation during the implementation period of the project (at the end of
each month), involving the active participation of the communities.

Final evaluation will be carried out at the end of the project, taking
into account the various aspects. Here again, active participation of the
communities/beneficiaries will be promoted.




IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

Six months - 15 October 2001 to 15 April 2002.


COORDINATION

Just hours after the hurricane landfall, emergency committees were
constituted in the municipalities of Poptún and San Luis, coordinated by
the municipalities. The Departmental Government, Guatemalan Red Cross,
Catholic Church, local NGOs and the Federation Lutheran World are
co-ordinating the different efforts to mitigate the problems faced by the
affected families.



BUDGET


ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE:

Description	Type of 	No of	Unit Cost 	Budget	Budget
	Unit	Unit	Quetzales	Quetzales	US$

FOOD, MEDICINES AND SHELTER
Food Supplies
Beans	pound 	12,544 	3.15 	39,513.60	4,890
Rice	pound	15,680 	1.98 	31,046.40 	3,842
Coffee	pound	4,704	3.86	18,157.44	2,247
Vegetable Oil	litter	1,568 	7.16 	11,226.88 	1,389
Cornflour	pound	7,840 	4.49 	35,201.60 	4,357
Sugar	pound	7,840 	1.72 	13,484.80 	1,669
Incaparina	pound	9,408 	3.49 	32.833.92 	4,064
Sub total				181,465.08 	22,459

Medicines
Alcohol	unit	92	1.25	115.00	14
Mercury 	unit	184	4.60	846.40	105
Aspirin	tablet	920	0.25	230.00	29
Anti-acid	unit	920	0.75	690.00	86
Band curative	unit	920	0.60	552.00	68
Oxygenated water 	unit	62	3.00	186.00	23
Sertal 	unit	460	2.25	1,035.00	128
Cotton	½ pound	23	13.25	304.75	38
Adhesive band	roll	46	3.25	149.50	18
Oral saline solution	unit	460 	1.25 	575.00 	71
Description	Type of 	No of	Unit Cost 	Budget	Budget
	Unit	Unit	Quetzales	Quetzales	US$
Iodine-chlorine	tablet	920	0.35	322.00	40
Sub total				5,005.65 	620
Shelter
plastic sheeting	yards	12,544	7.00	87.808.00	10,867
Subtotal				87,808.00 	10,867
MATERIAL TRANSP, STORAGE, W/HOUSING, HANDLING
Transport of provisions	trip	11	3,590.90	39,500.00 	4,889
Sub total				39,500.00 	4,889

RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION
Housing
16 feet zinc sheet	unit	25,088	43.20	1,083,801.60	134,134
Nails	pounds	6,272	4.50	28,224.00	3,493
Food Security
Maize seed	quintal	400 	470.00 	188,000.00 	23,267
Bean seed	quintal	240 	940.00 	225,600.00 	27,921
Sub total				1,525,625.60 	188,815

IMPLEMENTATION & MONITORING EXPENSES
Salaries Staff and Support
Program Coordinator (at 25%)	month	6 	3,500.00 	21,000.00 	2,599
Technician - productive cap (2)	month	6 	4,000.00 	24,000.00 	2,970
Social charges & benefits (2)	month	2	2,000.00 	4,000.00	495
Perdiem (2)	month	6	2,400.00	14,400.00	1,782
Perdiem (3 days)	people	15 	285.00 	4,275.00 	529
Monitoring		6 	400.00 	2,400.00 	297
Office Operation
Training material		6	500.00	3,000.00 	371
Communications -Tel, fax, email	lumpsum			2,000.00 	248
Working meetings		5 	500.00	2,500.00	309
Stationary and supply	lumpsum			1,133.33	140

Vehicle Operation
Motorcycle Fuel Maintenance	month	6 	2,000.00 	12,000.00 	1,485
Capital Equipment
Motorcycle 125cc 	unit	2	24,750.00 	49,500.00 	6,126
Audit	lumpsum			10,000.00 	1,238
Sub total				150,208.33 	18,589


TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE			1,989,612.66	246,239
Exchange rate: U$ 1 = Q8,08



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