Fuego Volcano Eruption

On Thursday night evening there was a volcanic eruption by Fuego Volcano. Many families were evacuated to nearby towns, but thankfully were able to return home on Friday. Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) donated money to Hope Haven to assemble food and supply baskets to be delivered to the families affected by this event.

Saturday we spent the afternoon assembling the food baskets and loading them onto vehicles. A large truck was sent from Municipality from the villages of Panimache 1 and Panimache 2 to carry all of the materials to two different sites. Early Sunday morning, a group of volunteers, led by Misael, Hope Haven’s accountant, traveled up the volcano to distribute the supplies, about 3 hours from Antigua.

We visited two separate sites of those affected, and were relieved to see that the damage was not as bad as we had anticipated. Some of the roofs had small holes from the burning ash that fell, but most of the holes had already been there before the eruption due to old lamina. In speaking with some of the people from Panimache they generally said they were scared when it all started, but were able to return the next day knowing that the worst was over.

The people were very gracious and it was encouraging to them to know that they were not forgotten. At both sites, the Mayor spoke to his communities and let us say a few words on behalf of Samaritan’s Purse and Hope Haven. We were glad to be there so the families knew they had not been forgotten.