Two articles follow on the impact of Hurricane Eta on Northern Nicaragua, one that focuses on its impact on indigenous communities, and another that addresses the government´s attempt to block non governmental responses to provide aid to communities hit by the hurricane.
El “Pana-pana” and “Biri-biri”are the ways the indigenous communities survive after the passage of Hurricane Eta
Cut off, without crops and homes, the self-evacuated indigenous communities are in precarious conditions, surviving the havoc of the hurricane in the Northern Caribbean Coast.
By Karen Díaz López in La Prensa, Nov 5, 2020
They did not know that the rains were not simple rains, but part of Hurricane Eta. No one warned them, many ran into the fury of the hurricane winds in the heart of the forest. Nor did government officials arrive nor special corps to evacuate them. They evacuated themselves under the rain fall and with the little that they could carry in their hands and on their backs, they left their homes but also the food that was still growing in their plots. Everything is flooded. There is no water, nor light, hunting or going to the river is to risk not returning. Their grains, which are counted, are running out.
To survive, while they await the response of the government or help from organizations, they resort to the old “pana-pana”, Mískito exchange, or the “biri-biri”, the Mayangna word to refer to a treatment of reciprocity. They are the traditional customs based on mutual support and collective property which they have kept afloat in these days. “I give you a little of what I have, you share with me what you have left.”
Another big loss of their crops submerges them again in a profound food crisis that is made worse with the swelling of the rivers that block the way to return to their homes or their plots, where they know that they will not find anything more than mud and waste. The community members have denounced the lack of attention and aid on the part of the local, regional and national authorities, but they are not receiving response nor attention, which is why, according to leaders and human rights defenders, the population has no other alternative than go out to look to recover in their surroundings, to help one another with the little that they took and the little that they find. “Biri-biri” and “Pana-pana”.
Right now hundreds of families in the heart of the Bosawas Reserve and surrounding areas are sheltering themselves from the water in improvised refuges in schools and local churches, the only structures that, in spite of being in poor shape, might offer them a medium level of security between four walls of concrete; the local architecture is characterized by boards, straw roofs and wooden beams on which they raise their homes.
“The Mayangna communities do not have shelters, nor basic help for families, they are sheltering in churches or schools and they are not so safe because they are in poor shape. In those places there is no food, not even water, thre is no electric, they are completely cut off, no type of aid gets there,” explained Byron Bucardo Miguel, community leader in the Mayangna Sauni As territory, composed of 18 communities.
Some indigenous communities of the Wangki Maya and Wangki Twi Tasba Raya territory find themselves in the same conditions, according to José Medrano Coleman, defender of the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN). The communities are isolated and in a food crisis due to the swelling of the rivers and the flooding that have once again affected the small homes and their crops.
Rivers that cover everything
The houses located close to the shores of the Coco Abajo and Wawa rivers, are the most affected as a result of the rise in the water flow, the current washes away crops and homes, the same situation that they suffered in August after the passage of Tropical storm No. 14, but this time it was worse due to the devastating passage of Hurricane Eta. Their situation is more delicate.
“What we know about the communities of Wawa bar, Sukatpin, Wisconsin, Francia Sirpi, Santa Clara and La Esperanza is that they are communities very concerned about the quick rise of the Coco and Wawa rivers. There are flooded homes as a result of the constant rains. In the community of Sukatpin there are homes destroyed, without roofs, there are trees, the Wawa bar community has been devastated. We do not have very fluid communication with the leaders because of the lack of electric energy and signal in the forested area of the zone, “ noted Coleman.
The families from the Mayangna community of Alal find themselves in the same situation. They are located in the lower part of the Wawa river, where they are more vulnerable to the flooding.
“These people had their homes flooded, they had to move to churches and schools, but they continue suffering because the children are crying of hunger, there is no water, because the rivers are high and if you drink from that water you can get sick. Some men who were out patrolling (on watch) their plots so they would not be occupied by the settlers, were left stranded in the forests, on their own, they continue cut off, we have no communications, they have no way to get out of those areas, nor can they hunt or fish because they run the risk of drowning in the rivers or being flattened by any tree that might fall on them,” pointed out Bucardo.
Crisis after crisis
The director of CEJUDHCAN, Juan Bilbao, explained to La Prensa that they have confirmed during an in situ visit that the communities of Wangki Twi Tasba Raya are suffering the greatest havoc from the passage of Hurricane Eta. “They have suffered the most devastating effects, they lost their crops of rice, bananas, cassava, fruit trees, the community of Wisconsin is flooded, their homes were left without roofs, boards, they are awaiting the help of the authorities,” mentioned Bilbao.
Coleman added that in the face of the need for aid and not receiving any response, the community members help one another when they are able to find some food in the homes that was not completely destroyed. “They search on their own where there was less destruction, they look for food, always there is “pana-pana”, solidarity in these times, they help one another. They did not just lose their crops, they cannot go fish, much less hunt, the strong winds wiped out their crops of bananas, cassava, their food crisis has worsened,” he underlined.
On his part the Mayangna community leaders stated that the community members suffer more needs every day, due to the fact that “we do not have access to anything, we do not have food, wateror clothing to send to the communities that are cut off by the rivers which have swollen, and the trees that have fallen, there is no way out. People have not eaten anything, the rivers are contaminated by the garbage that the ebb and flows bring, it is unfortunate, people can die from hunger, and those who are able to recover something from their homes they share it, we say that that is “biri-biri”, but it is not enough to last for very long.”
In addition, he pointed out that those who are in the churches and schools do not have food, nor water, nor mattresses, clothingor energy. “The elderly and the children can get sick from so much cold and without eating they can die,” Bucardo said with a tone of concern.
Ortega regime blocks citizen collection for families affected by Hurricane Eta
The offices of the Nicaraguan Medical Unit and the Diocese of Blueflields, both in Managua, denounced that the harassment was due to the collection that they are doing for the families affected by Hurricane Eta
La Prensa by Lidia López, Nov 4, 2020
The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, through the Orteguista Police (PO), this Wednesday has blocked independent organizations from carrying out collections that they were holding to benefit the families affected by Hurricane Eta. The Nicaraguan Medical Unit (UMN) and the Diocese of Bluefields denounced the obstruction of these humanitarian actions with the police presence in the installations where they attempted to receive the aid.
The UMN denounced that agents of the PO and the Office of Special Police Operations (DOEP) this Wednesday morning surrounded their offices in Managua, and blocked the entry of the workers, administrative as well as medical workers, denounced Dr. Anely Pérez Molina, the secretary of the UMN.
According to Dr. Pérez, the police agents who were armed, denied the entry of the workers without telling them the reasons, even though she denounced that the harassment was due to the announcement that the UMN made about the collection for the families affected by Hurricane Eta. There were also parapolice present there.
The UMN started among the medical corps a collection of medical inputs, food and other materials, to later send them along with a medical brigade that will treat the affected zones.
“This is not going to keep us from helping the people of the Caribbean, we are going to collect medicine in any way possible and form the brigades (…) this is absurd, it is blocking aid for those who need it, humanitarian aid, solidarity among us Nicaraguans, that is what they are preventing,” lamented the Doctor.
Likewise, the offices of the Diocese of Bluefields, located in Managua, remained under the siege of the Police, who searched and blocked citizens who were leaving their donation. They also took pictures and videos of the people who arrived.
According to the Diocese, the citizens reported to them that the agents told them that all aid must be channeled through the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Treatment of Disasters (SINAPRED). The Church has planned to take the aid that it collected to Bilwi and the Mining Triangle.
Also in Bluefields
The journalist Ileana Lacayo Ortiz also denounced that the entrance to Radio Siempre Joven in Bluefields started the morning surrounded by the PO to keep them from carrying out the speakathon that the communications media announced for the people affected in the Caribbean of the country
. 