Mayan Dr. Speaks on Hurricane Stan Anniversary
Washington, D.C., August 28, 2006—October marks the anniversary of Hurricane Stan and the mudslides that buried the Guatemalan village of Panabaj. Dr. Irene Quiejú is coming to the north-east to speak about the tragedy and recovery.
Dr. Quiejú is the first female physician from Santiago Atitlán—the town of 40,000 that includes Panabaj--and the Director of the Hospitalito Atitlán, which was directly in the path of the mudslide. Dr. Quiejú will be speaking in Boston, New York City, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D. C.
The Hospitalito is currently the subject of a Harvard study looking at how a rural Guatemalan facility in an impoverished indigenous community could reopen in just 15 days after such a tragedy. The Hospitalito is now located in a temporary facility, but is in the process of building a new permanent structure.
Around 4,000 T’zutujils still live in a camp of USAID tents near the site of the original mudslide. The area has been declared uninhabitable by the Guatemalan Government, and hard rains have prompted several emergency evacuations already this hurricane season.
Contact Joel Inwood
703-401-0758 or joelinwood@puebloapueblo.org
