It´s been a month since Hurricane Mitch passed through Nicaragua. Many are still suffering the tragedy. The lost of family members is not easy to forget. Thousands look at their life with no future. Many municipalities can not be reached by roads and starvation has overcome them. Tipitapa, just off Managua -the capital city- continues to be flooded. Yet, the National Emergency Committee was officially closed in recent days despite the fact that quite a few municipalities are claiming that they have not received help from the Government.

It was announced by President Alemán that all municipalities in the western part of the country, especifically León and Chinandega, afflicted by the hurricane (a total of 22) would receive emergency funds inmediately to buy land and build houses for the homeless.

Fundación Movilización Social visited La Paz Centro, Santa Rosa del Peñón and El Jicaral in León and Posoltega, El Realejo, El Viejo, Villanueva and Chichigalpa in Chinandega this past weekend and all Mayors stated that not only they have not received any funds, but in many cases the food delivered by the Government was sitting at the local church warehouse.

The effect and devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch showed the constant victims of neoliberal policies and showed the world the true dimension of poverty in Nicaragua. Most had a tiny family-crowded houses, few pigs and chickens, harvest for domestic comsumption and used clothes. Now they have nothing. They don´t even know if they can harvest in the same lands for it is buried in heavy layers of mud.

Women and children had the worst part. It was ironic that the municipilaty which was worst affected by the hurricane was Posoltega which is headed by a woman Mayor, Felícitas Zeledón, who during 48 hours kept calling President Arnoldo Alemán and other government authorities to evacuate the communities in Las Casitas volcano. After the volcano slide that wiped out entire communities, she kept crying out that many people had died and that her estimate was that over a thousand had perished. It was then that President Aleman said in a press conference "that woman is crazy".

Children´s situation was already very bad. Now it worsens. The psychological impact of what they underwent will mark them for a lifetime. The inmediate application of the Children and Adolescents Code is needed.

It is time for rehabilitation and reconstruction. The municipalities must play a primary role and their authority should not be undermined by the Government as it was during the emergency. Civil society must be heard in their claim for foreign debt services to go to social and human development.

International solidarity was eager to support the nicaraguan people and Cuban medical brigades were finally allowed into the country. We need their continuing effort if we are ever to reconstruct our country, our society, our families. Programs and projects aimed at food, medicines, shelter and production should be supported as priority, particularly in those areas of León, Chinandega, Matagalpa, Jinotega and Las Segovias (Estelí, Nueva Segovia, Madriz).

Fundación Movilización Social will be showing through this WebPage how it distributed donations received for the victims of the hurricane and will be presenting the continued effort for rehabilitation and reconstruction of Nicaragua.

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