Emergency Survey COVID-19-Community San Pablo Tacachico

EMERGENCY SURVEY-COVID-19

Date: 17 April 2020

Municipality: San Pablo Tacachico

Communities included in report:

San Jorge, Las Arenas, Paso Hondo, Copinula, Barillas, Plan del Amate, Campanas, Los Rivas.

(Please try to provide details. If your program covers more than one canton or hamlet, please specify the differences in each community).   The San Pablo de Tacachico Municipality scholarship program is made up of various communities or cantons that were previously mentioned; there are eight communities in total.

STUDIES

1.      How have your studies been affected?

R/ Majority of young students have been affected due to the form of student work taken, since we are working on the subjects via online platforms, and many of us do not have sufficient financial resources to access the internet. My studies have been affected since we have started internships, and we’ve only had three days and the knowledge acquired can only be practical.

2.     Do you have access to the internet? Where and how? (telephone, computer, cybercafé, residential service, prepaid card)?

R/ Yes. Residential, but I get it this way because it is shared with a neighbour, and we each contribute a portion of the monthly payment. I consider that most of us are having problems in the way we connect to the internet, since it is via telephone which generates more costs, because the internet packages are expensive and give little time.  Due to the problem of the emergency, there are no operating cybercafes at the moment, and most of us young people cannot leave home.

3.     What are the young scholars doing in their spare time?

R/ Some are collaborating in their communities with sanitation campaigns, doing household chores, living with their families and enjoying every moment by their side. We take care of going out twice a week to buy food for our families, others do not leave home, and others have told me they are participating in collaborative sanitation activities for the wellbeing of their communities. I dedicate my free time to: doing homework, reviewing different materials in certain subjects, and exercise.

4.     If some scholarship students are involved in a social project or supporting something in the midst of the emergency, comment on it.  We understand that most cannot leave and have had to suspend their social projects; however, some have given us reports of help with disinfecting and support for security measures when entering their communities, helping families get the $300.00; helps young people with their studies etc. 

R/ I have been collaborating with ADESCO (community council) in the organization for sanitation of the community. According to young people, in the month of April, they have not carried out social projects since the emergency prevention measures do not allow groups of people and the recommendation to stay at home, which is respected, to avoid spreading the virus. If I consider all of us, we have helped people to see if they have benefited from the subsidy.

ECONOMIC

1.     How is it affecting families economically?

R/ The economy is affected quite a lot, because many families had income through informal sales, and the only businesses operating are pharmaceutical and basic basket sales, so there are people already running out of economic resources and food.  The families that are part of the scholarship program are all of limited resources, therefore we are all hurting economically, since in some families we do not have the income of someone who works and helps us meet needs.  It is a problem, because my family has had to suspend their jobs, we have no monetary income, since my mom worked in the school cafeteria.

2.     For the families that have milpa (corn harvest), will the be able to plant in May?

R/ It depends on how the situation continues to evolve, because if the virus spreads and the quarantine extends, it’s impossible to be able to plant basic grains, because doing it would imply risk for the health of the family and the country. Also that agricultural supplies are going to rise too much so if everything gets expensive, that means that we are going to be affected in agriculture. My dad will not be able to plant because he cannot go to the place where he grows the cornfield, because he cannot go that far and he has not been able to prepare the ground.

3.     Do you have access to supplies from the basic food basket? Are there difficulties in obtaining them? (explain)

R/ Yes. Yes, because you have to wait in long lines to buy them, since many of the businesses are closed due to the emergency. Another thing is that there is no income to be able to acquire them, there are too many difficulties to be able to obtain food, due to the lack of money and the situation we are experiencing due to the emergency (stores closed). Yes, there are difficulties because the prices are too high.

4.     The families in which they do not have a salary and social security, have they received the $300 government subsidy?

R/ Some families yes, but others have not benefited, since they do not have access to the internet and have not asked for the corresponding help from other people. Most of the people who have benefited are those who have a considerable income and the poorest families have not had anything.

5.     Have scholarship students helped coordinate access to the $ 300 for their technology skills? Explain who has helped, and how many families.

R/ Yes. To family members and people in the community. Most were supporting this, since it was a benefit for themselves and also helping other people, such as grandparents or people who cannot read or write.

6.     If families do not appear on the list, do students help fill out the form? Have they been successful?

R/ So far, all the people consulted have obtained the benefit. Of course, all the people who have not benefited have been helped to fill out the form.

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

1.      How is the current mental health of families affected?

R/ It is affecting a lot psychologically, since many people are not accustomed to being alone locked up and this causes a desperation or anxiety to get out and continue with the routine of before the virus will affect. Many families are also scared and afraid about covid19, that is why they do not leave the house, but some more than afraid are mentally terrified and that is very damaging to the health of each of them.

2.     Do they have access to clean water?

R/ Yes, most families have drinking water thank God.

3.     Are there diseases in the community?

R/ Only chronic diseases, so far in the community there is no case with the COVID-19 virus. That is why everything is going well. Preventive measures are being taken to keep our communities healthy.

MEASURES

1.     What do you think about the measures that the government has taken (social distancing, subsidy, mobility restriction, detention in case of non-compliance with the measures, confinement of people in quarantine centers, among others)?

R/ For my point of view they are very good, since the president made the decision on time to quarantine and close all entrances or exits, to avoid contagion from many Salvadorans and seems he is concerned about Salvadoran people suffering from this disease. We only have to obey so that his strategy works for him. And if you have people in a containment center, it is those who do not want to obey and are making disorders in the streets or unnecessarily leave the house.

• The distancing helps us not to acquire the virus easily.
• The subsidy has benefited many people who are poor.
• Mobility restriction, it is fine because there are vehicles that circulate in areas where there are already positive cases of the virus and if they enter communities where there are not yet positive cases, they can contaminate the inhabitants of the area. 
• Detention in case of non-compliance with the measures, although it is a good measure because there are people who leave their homes without any need, they should be less rude.
• The communities have been closed to prevent people from entering other areas and at the same time they are being fumigated.