Guatemala Volcano Survivors Aid

Hello, my name is Paola Michelle Contreras. I am a Guatemalan-American psychologist who lives in Cambridge, MA. I work primarily in the United States as an Assistant Professor at William James College, and I am a psychoanalytic candidate at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. I maintain very close work and family ties to Guatemala and have twenty years of experience working with trauma-affected populations. I specialize in assisting survivors of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, and also experienced in attending survivors of natural disasters and war. My family is from Guatemala, and I studied psychology in Guatemala before moving to the United States for graduate school. I continue to teach in Guatemala and train U.S. students to carry out ethical and collaborative international work. (feel free to review my LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/paola-michelle-contreras-08359454/) 

Today, I am asking you to help me assist Guatemala's volcano eruption survivors. The Volcano of Fire erupted on June 3, 2018, in Guatemala killing many (the official toll is 69 deceased, but unfortunately that number is rising). Most pressing right now is the thousands of people displaced and those in need of medical care. Please help me raise money to assist the medical teams attending survivors. All the money you donate will go directly to attend survivors (I will reimburse the fund for the percentage that Go Fund Me takes from donations). Funds will be needed over the long term, so please keep sharing this campaign even when the news outlets have stopped covering the volcano disaster.

Based on my experience doing disaster relief and international work, I understand that the effective use of funds requires collaboration with locals that know the issues and needs of their communities. Hence for this effort, I am partnering with the Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos, an organization that has 50 years of experience providing social relief to those in most need in Guatemala. It is also an organization composed of all Guatemalans who live in the country (I am their only international member). Norma Merida Maldonado, the current President of Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos will receive the money to coordinate the purchase of supplies and deliver them to health centers attending survivors as soon as possible. Norma Merida has been working with the Lions Club Malacatan for 30 years, and she has that same amount of experience doing foundation work in Guatemala with those in most need. I am also a member of Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos and have volunteered along with that organization in Guatemala since I was a teenager (Norma Merida is also my mom). I would have liked to add the Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos to the GoFundMe page but they are not a non-profit listed in the GoFundMe page options, and the organization only has a bank account in Guatemala.

Hence as soon as GoFundMe releases your gifts to me, I will wire the money via Western Union to Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos' current President and she will deposit the funds into the Club's local account in Banrural Bank to start making purchases. Western Union is the most expedite manner to get the funds to Guatemala (seconds versus several days for a bank transfer). I will cover the Western Union fees incurred to make sure that 100% of your gift gets to survivors (I'll upload pictures of transfers made via Western Union and for the deposit made to Lion's club account in Guatemala).

Also crucial for you to know is that because Lions Club Malacatan, San Marcos is a small chapter they do not work with an overhead, hence all donations go directly to the people they serve, in this case to the survivors of the volcano eruption.