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Homelessness in Guatemala: An Update

Homelessness in Guatemala: An UpdateIn Guatemala, more than 50% of the population lives below the poverty line. Families of four or more live in small one or two-room huts — if a shelter is available at all. On average, a child is abandoned every four days because families do not have the means to take care of another child. Homelessness in Guatemala often forces people to sleep under benches or in the dirt.

Street Children

Among the homeless individuals in Guatemala, 7,000 of them are children and adolescents left to survive on their own. Many street children turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism, which adds to the cycle of homelessness in Guatemala. Violence directed towards street children is not uncommon. The Guatemalan police’s use of deadly violence toward these children remained unchecked until the early 2000s, but the threat of physical harm has not been yet been completely abolished.

Homelessness in Guatemala is a ripple effect that has cyclical consequences for the children of the impoverished. It is often necessary to work instead of going to school. The little income they make working often does not stretch far.

More than a quarter of the population of children in Guatemala are actively involved in child labor out of necessity. One in four children under the age of 15 is illiterate. Chronic malnutrition and hunger are a consistent part of life. Without access to proper education or nutrition, the children of the impoverished do not have the ability to move forward.

Inadequate Housing Plagues Families

Traditionally, Guatemalan culture revolves around family. Tight-knit communities are hindered by a lack of funds, nutritional food and educational opportunities. Those with shelter often live in small huts with a tin roof and dirt floors. Children, parents and grandparents often live together without running water or electricity. Diseases plague newborns and small children due to an inability to keep housing sanitary, leading to high infant death rates. Medical care is frequently nonexistent.

Cooking is done over an open fire kept inside the home, leaving the women and children breathing in smoke for hours at a time with no ventilation. Some houses are made from straw or wood, both of which are extremely flammable and pose an additional risk to families inside while food is being prepared. As a result, respiratory illness affects a large portion of the poor population and the idling soot becomes toxic for the entire family. Without running water, there is no way to properly clean the soot and, without electricity, there is no other option for families to cook food.

The Plight of the Indigenous Woman

Half of the homeless in Guatemala are indigenous women. Indigenous impoverished women not only suffer the fallout of poverty but face racism and gender-based violence.

Compared to the rest of the country, including non-indigenous Guatemalan women, indigenous women have a higher chance of having multiple unplanned children, living in poverty and being illiterate. The birth mortality rate for women of native heritage is double that of non-indigenous women, who also have a life expectancy of 13 more years compared to that of indigenous women. These women are malnourished and underpaid. The inequality trickles down to their children who face food insecurity, a lack of education and, if they are young girls, the same fear of violence and racism their mothers have endured.

Housing Aid in Guatemala

Basic human necessities are not available for many in Guatemala and haven’t been for generations. However, The Guatemala Housing Alliance is focused on providing proper shelter to families and works in tandem with other groups aiming to help education, food insecurity and sexual education for the impoverished in Guatemala.

The Guatemala Housing Alliance built 47 homes with wood-conserving stoves that eliminate the danger of open-fire cooking. It installed flooring in 138 homes that previously had dirt floors. The foundation also offers to counsel young children and has hosted workshops for women to speak openly and learn about sanitation, nutrition and their legal rights.

Even amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Guatemala Housing Alliance is still hard at work. It provided 1,340 parcels of food, and each parcel supports a family of four for two weeks. With the organization’s many goals, individuals who are homeless in Guatemala are slowly but surely being given access to a plethora of resources that can help improve their quality of life.

– Amanda Rogers
Photo: Flickr

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Homelessness in Guatemala

Homelessness in GuatemalaIn Guatemala, over 50% of the population live below the poverty line. Families of four or more live in small one or two-room huts if they have shelter at all. On average every four days a child, usually a newborn, is abandoned because families do not have or can not access the means to take care of another child. Homelessness in Guatemala harshly impacts children, families and indigenous women.

Street Children

Young children are considered lucky if they are not part of the large homeless population. Among the homeless population, 7,000 of them are children and adolescents left to survive on their own. Many of them turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism, perpetuating the cycle of homelessness in Guatemala. Violence directed towards street children is not uncommon. The Guatemalan police force’s deathly violence towards these children had remained unchecked until the early 2000s but the threat of physical harm has not been abolished to this day.

Homelessness in Guatemala is a ripple that ends at the children of the impoverished. For example, they are needed for work and are often unable to go to school, if they can afford public schooling to begin with. The little income they make does not stretch far. A quarter of the population of children are actively involved in child labor out of necessity. In addition, one in four children under the age of fifteen are illiterate. Chronic malnutrition and hunger are a consistent part of life. Without access to proper education or nutrition children of the impoverished do not have the ability to move forward. As a result, they are trapped in a cycle of poverty and homelessness in Guatemala.

Inadequate Housing Plagues Families

Traditionally, Guatemalan culture revolves around family. It is a tight-knit community that is hindered by the lack of funds, nutritional food and educational opportunities. Those who are fortunate enough to have shelter are stuffed into small huts with a tin roof and dirt floors. Children, parents and grandparents often live together without running water or electricity. Diseases plague newborns and small children due to people’s inability to keep housing sanitary, leading to high infant death rates. Medical care is all but nonexistent.

Cooking is done over an open fire kept inside the home. This leaves the women and children of the families to breathe in smoke for hours at a time with no ventilation. Some houses are made from straw or wood both of which are extremely flammable and pose another risk to families inside. Respiratory illness affects a large portion of the poor population. Since most houses are one room, the idling soot from cooking fires becomes toxic for the entire family. Without running water, there is no way to properly clean the soot and without electricity, there is no other option for families to cook food.

The Plight of the Indigenous Woman

Half of the country is homeless and of that population, half of those people are indigenous women. Impoverished indigenous women not only suffer the fallout of poverty, they face racism and violence because of their sex. Compared to the rest of the country, including Guatemalan women, indigenous women have a higher chance at having multiple unplanned children, living in poverty and being illiterate. In addition, the birth mortality rate for women of native heritage is double and non-indigenous women have a greater life expectancy by an average of 13 years. They are malnourished and underpaid. The inequality trickles down to their children who face food insecurity, lack of education and if they are young girls the same fear of violence and racism their mothers endure.

Taking Action

Homelessness in Guatemala engulfs half of the 15 million people living in the country. Basic human necessities are not available and haven’t been for generations. The Guatemala Housing Alliance focuses on providing proper shelter to families. They work in tandem with other groups aiming to help education, food insecurity and sexual education for the poor of Guatemala.

The Guatemala Housing Alliance has built 47 homes with wood-receiving stoves that eliminate the danger of open fire cooking. They’ve put flooring in 138 homes that had been previously made of dirt. Also, the foundation offers counseling for young children and has hosted workshops for women for them to speak openly and learn about sanitation, nutrition and their legal rights.

For more information visit their website. 

– Amanda Rogers
Photo: Pixabay

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5 Facts about Homelessness in Guatemala

Homelessness in Guatemala
Guatemala has a population of 17 million people. Although Guatemala contains vast industries like tourism and agriculture, the nation still has a large problem with homelessness. Guatemala’s homelessness correlates with the poverty occurring in the country. In 2014, 8.7% of the population fell under extreme poverty. People that made $5 a day make up 48.5% of the population. Because of this dire poverty situation, most families in poverty in Guatemala reside in makeshift homes that do not protect against weather conditions. Here are five facts about homelessness in Guatemala.

5 Facts About Homelessness in Guatemala

  1. The young population deals the most with homelessness. Children as young as 12 migrate to other cities in Guatemala to look for economic opportunities. Despite this, most of the children do not find employment: 50% of youth live in poverty in Guatemala and 52% cannot find employment (despite 20% of children needing to work to support their families). Most of the immigrants come from Nicaragua and Honduras because of civil unrest within the government in these countries. Homelessness in youth populations continues to occur because of limited opportunities for youth in the country.
  2. Young girls are targets of homelessness. Guatemala has a large problem with human trafficking, particularly of the female population. The Guatemalan government has identified 371 victims of trafficking in 2018. The number decreased from 673 victims in 2016, but it still has not been eliminated. Charities like La Alianza Homeless Shelter attempt to provide housing for women in Guatemala City. The Public Ministry of Guatemala is attempting to provide more help to potential victims by expanding its Immediate Response Team to help and find victims. With efforts from non-governmental and governmental programs, trafficking due to homelessness is decreasing, but it has not been extinguished yet.
  3. Altering weather conditions cause homelessness in Guatemala. The altering climate in Guatemala causes some farmers to lose their crop produce. Guatemala is one of the ten countries most at risk of the negative effects of drastic climate changes. As climate problems change the landscape, families of farmers are moving to urban centers to find working opportunities. Most of these people end up homeless because they do not find any jobs. Guatemala can not solve factors like temperature changes on their own. In 2017, the United States stopped funding the Climate, Nature, and Communities program that helped the people in rural towns in Guatemala to have better food security. The changing weather patterns in Guatemala will continue to leave farmers without food unless other countries attempt to help. Without food in small towns, farmers are forced to abandon homes and become nomads in their own country.
  4. The inequality in Guatemala aids to homelessness. Guatemala’s unemployment rate is 2.7%. Despite Guatemala having the lowest unemployment rate in Central America, it does not have sufficient job opportunities. In a Union Bank of Switzerland study, statistics revealed that 260 people in Guatemala control 56% of the economy. The second group of people in the high-income bracket receive 63% of available income. The people of Guatemala receive a minimum wage of about $270 per month. With residential properties costing an average of $150,000, the minimum wage leaves people without the means to pay for housing. Since 59% of people live below the poverty line, they are unable to afford the high prices of residential living. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity are working to build housing for people in Guatemala that live in overcrowded spaces. According to Habitat for Humanity, 1.6 million people suffer from having inadequate housing. Through organizations helping with homelessness, people can prosper.
  5. Indigenous populations are vulnerable to homelessness in Guatemala because they are not represented in the government and experience discrimination. Statistics confirm that 21.8% of poverty comes from the indigenous population. People in indigenous communities suffer inadequate water supplies and health care. The situation leads to indigenous people attempting to escape the country because of extortion or violence. Only 5% of people under 18 that migrate to other countries are not indigenous. With 40% of the population accounting for indigenous people, indigenous people should have more representation in their government. Indigenous people are usually homeless because they are recurring migrants that attempt to escape Guatemala, only to return again to the same situation they were in. The Government of Guatemala has issued a UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People, but they have not dedicated specific legislation towards the problem.

Many factors cause homelessness in Guatemala, but it takes an approach from the Guatemalan government, non-government organizations and developed countries to improve the situation in these countries. Despite Guatemala having large pockets of inequality, the situation is improving, as the economy’s GDP grew from 68% in 2016 to 85% in 2020. Along with this, multiple non-government organizations help to house people that live in unstable houses. Organization Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados is another NGO helping to shelter people in poverty. Through these measures, people are able to have stable homes, but it will take reductions in violence, pollution and poverty to end homelessness in Guatemala.

– Sarah Litchney
Photo: Wikimedia Commons