Central America

Save the Children continues to assist thousands of children and families forced from their homes in El Salvador and Guatemala as a result of torrential rains, floods and landslides from Hurricane Stan, which officials suggest have killed as many as 2,000 people in Central America

When the rains subsided, the governments in El Salvador and Guatemala – the two countries hardest hit by the hurricane—struggled to assist many rural villages in mountainous areas where mudslides took a heavy toll, wiping out homes, schools and churches and leaving many families homeless.

Rains also impacted families in Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua and destroyed thousands of acres of agriculture, including many coffee fields.

Save the Children worked closely with authorities in El Salvador and Guatemala to assist displaced families, with agency staff members providing basic necessities such as food, water, sanitary towels, diapers and children's clothes at shelters. Save the Children aid workers also worked to help children adjust to the disaster through supervised play activities.

In addition, Save the Children assisted families in El Salvador who live near Santa Ana, the country's largest volcano, which erupted for the first time in one hundred years early Saturday morning October 1.

“The volcanic eruption has created great fear of potential further eruptions, and the government recently directed a wide-scale relocation of villagers," said Catherine Kennedy, field office director for Save the Children in El Salvador. "Families in all nearby communities have been asked to move to the shelters as a precaution, including two communities in which we work.”

Save the Children has worked in Guatemala and El Salvador on behalf of children and their families for more than two decades, with a special focus on improving children's health and education.