Between 4 and 9 October, Hurricane Stan hit Guatemala in Central America.

Heavy rains and landslides hit the southern coast and in the western highlands of the country.

Many poor people lost their home and land, and it was very difficult for humanitarian agencies to reach isolated communities.

The US military has helped WFP by airlifting High Energy Biscuits (HEBs) to some difficult to reach areas.

About 1.5 million people have been directly affected by the floods and mudslides triggered by Hurricane Stan.

WFP teams working in the devastated areas have reported that large pieces of farmland have been washed away. This affects many people, especially farmers and traders.

WFP needs to give emergency food to about 285,000 people, and is asking the international community for US$ 14.1 to do this.

Several days of heavy rains saturated the soil and triggered landslides, which destroyed farmers’ houses, crops and tools.

“The whole hill came rolling towards us,? says one of them.

“I was lucky to get my family out of the way before it hit us.”

This latrine has fallen into a crack that opened up in the ground.

In total, some 3,755 houses have been destroyed and another 7,200 damaged, while over one hundred bridges were either damaged or destroyed.

Reconstruction will take months, if not years.

WFP is especially worried about children affected by the hurricane.

Even before the disaster, Guatemala had one of the highest chronic malnutrition rates in the world among children. Nearly half of the kids in Guatemala suffer from chronic malnutrition, which means they can’t grow and develop properly, they’re more likely to become sick, and it’s very difficult for them to study and learn.

WFP’s biggest challenge now is to ensure that food reaches those children who are already malnourished, and prevent them from slipping into a state of acute malnutrition.

The situation is especially difficult in the highlands of Guatemala, where indigenous people, the Maya, live.

People are very poor in these areas, which have been hit very badly by the hurricane.

Shoes are a luxury that not everyone can afford.

Indigenous people make up more than half the population of Guatemala. Since colonial times they have suffered political and economic discrimination, contributing to the country’s ongoing internal conflicts.