This week there have been protests all across Guatemala against the "corrupt government," who they are accusing of interfering in the presidential elections. Community leaders are blocking whole towns from any vehicle traffic entering or exiting the towns. Chichicastenango was one of the first towns to join the protest, but many other towns and cities are beginning to join in closing their borders.
 |
| People spelled out the word "Resign" at the entrance to this town. |
 |
| Blocking the highway |
 |
| Blocking individual communities |
 |
| No vehicle traffic permitted |
Our local community leaders finally allowed store owners in Chichi to leave on Friday in pick-up trucks to bring in groceries to sell in town, but they still aren't allowing any other vehicle traffic. The walk into town from our house is about an hour, so we haven't been able to do our weekly grocery shopping, but our situation is the least of our worries. Many people here eat "day to day" on what little they earn, and the lack of food and the ability to earn money is going to start affecting people greatly. People are also being blocked from access to medical care, clean bottled water, propane gas for cooking, and other necessities of life.
 |
| Empty streets and closed stores in Chichi |
 |
| Empty market in Chichi |
Please pray for peace in Guatemala. So far, the road blocking hasn't turned violent, but tempers are sure to flare soon. We are laying low and feel blessed to have enough food on our shelves to last for a while.
Update Oct. 21: After three weeks, they finally removed the blockades from our town and are slowly removing various blockades throughout Guatemala. Please continue to pray for peace in Guatemala since there are still various groups protesting for and against the upcoming presidential transfer. For now we are happy to be able to go grocery shopping in town!
Also affecting our part of the world lately have been torrential rains. It rained 12.5 inches in eight days, causing many landslides and some local houses have flooded or collapsed.
 |
| A collapsed house in town |
 |
| Landslide out from under a house just outside of town |
Also this week due to the heavy rains, the three main water pipes into our own community (traveling over mountainous terrain from a mountain spring several miles away) have been knocked out by downed trees, so our neighbors are toting yellowish water from a nearby well on someone's land. All houses in our community have outhouses or "flush" toilets that dump into big holes in the ground, right at water-table level, so the water is very contaminated. We are glad to have installed a very large cistern, so we are limiting our water usage and continue to have water for now.
Fortunately the heavy rains seem to have passed by, but it is still rainy season and the wet ground is already saturated. Please pray for the rains to be gentle.