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Operation White Flag Hunger Relief Effort Continues!

A mother and her child in Tzanjomel after receiving a food relief box from Child Aid.

Child Aid is pleased to announce a fourth round of life-saving food delivery in our White Flag Hunger Relief Campaign. Through the generosity of a $75,000 Kraft Heinz Foundation grant, we are providing 579,600 meals to hungry Guatemalan children and their families in the communities where we work. 

Through Operation White Flag Hunger Relief, Child Aid made three emergency food deliveries in the summer and fall of 2020, feeding more than 12,000 hungry people in 40 communities, many of them children. This week, the Child Aid team is loading up the trucks once again to deliver food boxes to those same families and children.

Food Insecurity in Guatemala Continues to Affect Vulnerable Families

Due to the spread of the Coronavirus in Guatemala, inflation and food insecurity plague a nation already suffering from a medical crisis. In addition, two powerful hurricanes hit the region in quick succession in November 2020, further crippling a nation under siege. Families who normally teeter on the edge of extreme poverty find themselves, without immediate intervention, facing starvation. The Guatemalan government has responded with several food relief drops — and Child Aid assisted in the distribution — but there are long time gaps between food drops, and, in the meantime, children we know and love are suffering the terrible and life-long effects of slow starvation.

We are grateful to the Kraft Heinz Foundation for helping us respond to this ongoing hunger crisis in our school communities. 

Check back here for photos and updates on our progress. See more White Flag photos.

February 5

It has been a difficult year for Isabela Saminez Ixcayá and her family. She has been unable to find a permanent job and her children have not been able to participate in school because they do not have internet at home. So she and her four children were excited to see what surprises their box contained and grateful for the help during this difficult time.
Pahuit
Patzicia, Chimaltenango
Unloading the truck in San Francisco El Alto, Totonicapán.
Buena Vista
San Francisco El Alto, Totonicapán.
Returning home in Chirramos, San Francisco el Alto, Totonicapan

February 2, 2021 – Second Day of Deliveries

Boxes are lined up and ready for delivery to schools and communities in Totonicapán.
A woman at the Maya Tzutujil school steadies her box as she readies her self for the walk home.
Delivery of a food box at the school in Pachut. The families expressed deep appreciation for the support provided by Child Aid, mentioning that the previous food deliveries last year were a great help for their families.
The family of Don Mercedes Xiquita, from the community of Pachut thanks Child Aid for the donation provided. Unfortunately his wife passed away earlier this year. The absence in the family is still felt as Don Mercedes continues to watch over the well-being of his two children.
For those families who can not make it to the schools, Child Aid team members are delivery boxes to homes.

February 1, 2021 – School Deliveries Begin

Delivering boxes by boat to communities on Lake Atitlán.
Local families pick up boxes at the Child Aid office in Patzún.
Escuela Especial in San Lucas Tolimán.
Local police officials help deliver boxes to the school in Tzununá.
A family in Tzanjomel looks through the contents of their box. Each box contains a variety of shelf-safe items designed to provide three weeks of emergency food relief.

January 29, 2021 – Food Boxes Arrive at Regional Offices

A truckload of food relief boxes arrives at Child Aid’s regional office in Totonicapán, Guatemala.
Child Aid’s Luis stacks boxes at our office in Panajachel.
Food boxes are loaded for delivery at the Child Aid office in Patzún