The Guatemala Emergency Relief Fund is a humanitarian collective working to facilitate cooperation and communication among grassroots aid organizations in the central highlands of Guatemala.
Current goals of the Guatemala Emergency Relief Fund include providing emergency monetary aid for food, medicine and cleanup to Santa Catarina Palopó and other Maya communities affected by Hurricane Stan; contributing to the reconstruction of these places by coordinating local labor and providing fair salaries for local workers; and establishing a body of volunteer scholars capable of coordinating non-governmental organizations efforts with local community needs.
Formed in response to Hurricane Stan in October 2005, the volunteer members consist of social scientists, conversant in Kaqchikel Maya, K'iche' Maya, and Spanish, the most commonly spoken languages in this region. We bring years of experience working and living in Maya communities and use this knowledge to work with community members to assess needs, help ensure the equitable distribution of aid, and help grassroots organizations and local Maya community organizations overcome linguistic, cultural, and institutional barriers.
For more information about the Guatemala Emergency Relief Fund, about Guatemala and highland Maya communities, or about current aid projects, contact anyone of the following.
- Karolo Aparicio, MA (karolo@irn.org), human and social rights activist
- Julio Victor Cochoy, MA (juliovictor35@yahoo.com), economist
- Robert Hamrick, MA (rphamric@uchicago.edu), linguistic anthropologist
- Angie Heo, MA (angieheo@berkeley.edu), cultural anthropologist
- Walter Little, PhD (wlittle@albany.edu), cultural anthropologist
- E. Rainbow Willard, MA (rainbow@berkeley.edu), linguistic anthropologist
Please help us realize some of these goals by making a donation.