Volcán de Fuego, an active volcano just outside Antigua, Guatemala, began a massive eruption yesterday morning, forcing over 30,000 people to evacuate towns and villages around the mountain. Fortunately, none of the communities where we work have been severely affected, but people in towns closest to the volcano are understandably frightened. Yepocapa and Santa Rosa, two of our partner communities that are nearest the volcano, have been put on yellow alert, but have not been forced to evacuate. So far, no deaths have been reported anywhere, thank goodness!

Mashable has collected a good set of photos of the eruption, snapped by citizens, that paint a vivid picture of the scale of the eruption. It’s reportedly the largest eruption since 1999. Photos at SF Gate give an idea of what people are going through.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out to us and expressed concern for staff and the people we work with. So far, all is OK. We’ll keep you posted here and on our Facebook page.