From Richard N. Adams and Betty Hannstein Adams

Patricia Cole and  Juan Skinner

As many of you know; during the week of 2-7 October, 2005 Guatemala, along with much of the rest of Central America, was subjected to a temporal produced by Hurricane Stan that created havoc over the entire country, from the western department of Huehuetenango to the eastern department of Jutiapa. Many major bridges along the Pacific coast were washed out, highland roads were blocked by landslides, the southwestern/southeastern part of the country was effectively without electricity, water systems became inoperative, a few aldeas were buried under mudslides, cell telephone towers went down, and the national TELGUA grid become inoperative.

Serious loss of life occurred in Santiago Atitlán. Many towns, such as San Lucas and Panajachel, were cut off from land communication with the rest of the country. The final count of lives lost is not in at this time nor is the final count of homes lost. The agricultural lands and workplaces damaged or destroyed will seriously affect the Guatemalan economy for a long time to come. The agricultural loss alone is calculated at three billion
quetzales. ($40,000,000.00 in U.S. dollars)

The recent disasters of Katrina and Rita have vividly illustrated the need for funds to deal with natural disasters. We are directing this request mainly to those of you who have good reason to know Guatemala and can imagine what this kind of disaster can mean to the people of the country.

Without doubt, as always is the case, it is the poor who are suffering the most. In Panajachel their homes were washed away, and many homes of the poor were damaged or have been seriously damaged.

The need for aid, however, is immediate and cannot wait. The Lake Net link below provides you with the information necessary to make your tax deductible donation thereby assisting those in need. It is most important that you clearly specify your donation is a gift in honor of Lake Atitlan People.

http://www.worldlakes.org/donate.asp

The donation you send to Lake Net will be used most immediately for the Lake Atitlan region, the area with which we have contact and knowledge.

We will respond with an acknowledgement of your contribution and will gladly answer any questions you might have. Send your questions to:

Juan Skinner
Lake Atitlan Environmental Protection Society- ProLago ..
prolago@intelnett.com

Many thanks for whatever you can do to help us try to help the people in Guatemala who have been affected by this catastrophic event .

(Please keep checking this website for updates)