Mudslides in Oaxaca Devastate Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec

The children’s limerick, “rain, rain go away, come again another day” is apropos to describe Oaxaca this summer.  It has rained incessantly and our friends have said this is the wettest time they can ever remember.  The ground is saturated.

This makes mountain villages like Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec especially vulnerable because there is no where else to build except on the hillsides.

News from Tlahuitoltepec today is not good.  In this Mixe village of about 10,000 people, a massive 4:00 a.m. landslide buried people inside their homes as they were sleeping.

To read more, see www.commondreams.org

The remote village is about 50 miles from our village of Teotitlan del Valle (also about 10,000 pop.), but it takes three to four hours to get there over curving mountain roads.

Our friends at the Oaxaca Lending Library (OLL) are asking for help and donations for the village.  Specifically, here is what is needed:

• bottled water
• powdered milk
• easy-to-open canned foods
• disposable diapers
• warm clothing (used is okay)
• blankets
• cash donations

To help, contact Oaxaca Lending Library email:  library@prodigy.net.mx Stephen and I are members of the Oaxaca Lending Library.  They are an organization of local Oaxaquenos and expatriates who make Oaxaca their home.  You can be assured that any gifts will get to the intended community directly — this is a legitimate organization.