Paraiso Village is just north of Corozal Town, not as far north as Chan Chen but close. And that village also suffered major damage and saw a few residents stuck in shelters. We visited yesterday and found that for some small farmers their greatest concerns is the loss of crops. It may not be as expansive as Fruta Bomba but their corn and sesame fields still have to make regular bank payments and now that those fields have been destroyed, who knows what will happen?
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
In Paraiso Village, just north of Corozal Town, four families are still in shelter. This woman told me in Spanish that her thatched house was demolished by the storm. The community nurses aid in charge of the shelter says they need supplies.
Jules Vasquez,
You have four families still here in the shelter. How are they doing?
Sabrina Manzanera, Community Nurses Aide
“They are doing fine because we come to look at them, if they want water, because we supply them with water and they say that they are going to bring food. Well I told them that in three days the food is going to come but we don’t know really if that is true.”
Jules Vasquez,
The food has not come yet?
Sabrina Manzanera,
“The food has not come yet.”
Jules Vasquez,
How many children do you have?
Villager,
“Six.”
Jules Vasquez,
_So you’re stressed out?
Villager,
“Yeah, a lot.”
And even those not in the shelter worry about what lies ahead. Thomas Castillo and Rigoberto Monteroso are farmers. This is what’s left of Castillo’s cornfield and that is what’s left of Monteroso’s sesame seed crop.
Thomas Castillo,
“We here, we live under food agriculture and fruits. Most of the people do farming right and we could say like 90% of all this thing is down to the ground. We have to start over from zero.”
Jules Vasquez,
You personally lost crops?
Thomas Castillo,
“Well I just have a little three acres of farm back here and the pineapples they are down, they are over, the little tambrans and mangoes we have – everything is gone.”
Rigoberto Monteroso, Farmer
“All the corn came down, about seven acres of corn, about one and a half acre of sesame seed is gone. I planted all that and my coconut and everything that I have. All the things I planted, like okra and corn, plantain, cassava, about acres of cassava, and pumpkin – I have all that.”
Jules Vasquez,
So what will you do now?
Rigoberto Monteroso,
“Well I don’t know. I am just trying to do something.”
Jules Vasquez,
Now you have to meet the loan payment?
Rigoberto Monteroso,
“I think so.”
Jules Vasquez,
How will you do that?
Rigoberto Monteroso,
“I don’t exactly what to do right now, I just have some corn seeds and I will just plant it again. We have to work hard to do it.”
