Guatemala is an underdeveloped country plagued by the aftermath of warfare, extreme poverty and a nine-year-old government still working out the kinks. Now they have one more thing to add to the distressing list: the aftermath of a hurricane.
But the magnitude of Hurricane Stan, just another in the seemingly relentless myriad of Mother Nature's nasty tricks, has yet to be fully realized, both in terms of damage done and international awareness.
After Stan ripped through the fragile countryside bordering one of Guatemala's most revered and highly populated tourist destinations and sent mudslides toppling over entire villages, killing hundreds, if not thousands, the devastation went virtually unnoticed'by the American media, at least.
In the shadow of domestic hurricane disasters and the earthquake in Pakistan, though undoubtedly deserving of attention, the problems of the indigenous Mayas of Guatemala remained hidden in the depths of the newspaper pages.
The deaths in Guatemala remain so'deaths, equally worthy of both notice and aid.
The government was forced to declare the affected areas as one massive graveyard, unable to continue the search for more bodies. Without the means, both monetarily and in terms of man power, to continue the search and relief efforts, families will go without closure.
Relief agencies have not given Guatemala the appropriate level of aid it so greatly needs. The world has not been properly alerted to the drastic situation at hand and hasn't been offered the opportunity to react as it may have otherwise.
In developed countries, people not only hope for a fitting and timely government response to extreme circumstances, they expect it; they speak out if their needs are not met to their liking. After 9/11, workers continued to search for bodies until any possible hope of finding the dead was less than a distant thought, spending millions of government dollars in the process. This is not the case in Guatemala.
But beyond the deaths it left in its wake and those that remained standing, struggling to continue on, Stan also wiped out entire facets of income. In a country where families live off the bounty of the land, the destruction of crops will play a major role in the inevitable economic decline put upon an already delicate nation.
But fear not, there is still time for redemption; the necessity for relief has not yet passed and won't for a long time. Now that the low, thick clouds have cleared, helicopters can reach those stranded in this sea of mud; the world can find a way to help.
Thousands of survivors now remain with few possessions as food supplies run low and patience lower yet. And the world has only seen the beginning of the worst: hunger, desperation and disease.
Now is the time to act before what seems like a bad dream turns into a nightmare.
