BY CARMEN ALVAREZ Central America faces two pandemics: COVID-19 and hunger. We cannot speak about the impact of the pandemic on the economy without mentioning the structural problems that people face. Several issues include high levels of unemployment, increased violence towards children and women, and limited access to health, education and protection services due to …
Gifts to the Guatemala Appeal – launched in March following a fire at a large children’s care home in the country – are helping our partner network to respond effectively and strategically. Forty-one teenage girls died and 15 others were seriously injured after the tragedy at the Virgen de la Asuncion home on the …
BY LIZ CROSS Four children were playing on the streets of Guatemala City when they were approached by a man who offered them food to coax them into his house. Three of the children regularly attended workshops run by Viva’s partner network, Viva Guatemala, and knew not to trust the man. But the other boy, …
Liz Cross, Viva’s Supporter Care Co-ordinator, writes about her recent trip to visit Viva’s partner network in Guatemala City and about finding positive stories in difficult places. A cemetery is one of the last places I expected to be standing when visiting Viva’s partner network in Guatemala City. However, over 2,000 people live on the …
BY LIZ CROSS Imagine walking eight hours to register your child’s birth. You arrive at the government centre and it’s crowded with people. They are all waiting to do the same as you – there’s only one registration centre to serve 200,000 people. The queue is long. You hear stories of how the internet connection …
Ever wondered what our Chief Executive’s annual schedule looks like? Mark Stavers delves into his diary.