Dateline ACT
El Salvador 01/05
ACT Appeal LACE52 - Tropical Storm Stan
The flood is one more problem for El Salvador’s most vulnerable citizens
By Nuria Badilla Arroyo, Lutheran World Federation-ACT
San Salvador, El Salvador, November 7, 2005—Jaime Escobar has been a shoemaker since he was 12 years old. As a child he learned to sew shoe soles and has been doing this work ever since. He and his brother have a small business in the Modelo neighborhood in the capital city of San Salvador.
When Hurricane Stan hit El Salvador in the early days of October, Jaime saw more than a meter of water enter his business, while the street was totally flooded.
Jaime watched tree trunks, rocks and even automobiles being carried along by the raging waters in front of his house.
By October 6, after five days of intense rain, the sun began to shine in San Salvador. That day Jaime went with his son, Ernesto, to his shop to begin to clean out the 20 centimeters of mud that covered the floor of his business.
Jaime was lucky because the hurricane did not force him from his home. However, when the rain finally stopped, more than 54,000 people had abandoned their homes and were living in one of the 371 shelters throughout El Salvador. There were 6,932 people from the city of San Salvador alone who left their homes. The family who lived in front of Jaime’s house had to evacuate their home because it was hanging over a riverbank and was declared to be inhabitable.
However, as Jaime said, this was not the first time the street had been flooded. It had happened on other occasions, but this was the first time the flood waters rose so high. Not during this time, nor on previous occasions, has anyone done anything to improve the conditions in the capital city.
All of the machinery in his business was heavily damaged. He lost a lot of his investment in the materials with which he works. However, he was lucky because he saved the majority of his things.
A reporter asked him if he was thinking about moving to another shop after this flood, and he explained that he does not earn enough to pay for another shop. Later he explained that his business is doing poorly and that he is earning less and less.
One misfortune on top of another
“The business does not produce enough now,” said Jaime. “There used to be at least ten businesses like this on this street; now there are only two of us. This has ceased to be productive; now shoes are made in other places, and they are a lot cheaper. Commerce is ruining us. The flood is one more problem; it was almost certain that we were going to close. We won’t have an opportunity under CAFTA – the Central America Free Trade Agreement.”
Jaime did not finish high school, so the possibility of getting a new job is very low.
According to the daily newspaper, Colatino, many small and medium businesses dedicated to the shoe sector have turned to importation or stopped their production. Another daily, La Prensa Gráfica, states that in El Salvador there is very little incentive to produce; 63.87 percent of family businesses are not receiving any kind of financial assistance. Of the 92 percent of businesses in El Salvador that are classified as micro-businesses, only eight percent are able to export and will benefit from the Central American Free Trade Agreement that has been debated recently among the countries involved – El Salvador, the United States, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Under these circumstances, the ability of the communities to recover after the setback of a disaster is limited, and many people are vulnerable. Many continue to believe that disasters are environmental threats and that socio-economic vulnerability is a separate issue. El Salvador was not prepared for this new catastrophe.
Like Jaime, many people lost their belongings in the hurricane, and many people are left without work. And like Jaime, after Hurricane Stan, it is very likely that many people will not completely recover. Hurricane Stan is another example of multiple catastrophes that threaten the Salvadoran people.
|
