Join with EPIC’s program partners in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador as they respond to the devastation caused by catastrophic hurricanes, Eta and Iota, that struck Central America within two weeks. Being there enabled our partners to begin immediate assistance and gives them the knowledge and skills for the long term recovery work that will be required.

EPIC’s longer term post-disaster response will involve a major effort to restore farms, rebuilding them for maximum disaster mitigation for future events. It is obvious that “extraordinary” storms are becoming the new norm. Already programs are acquiring native seed varieties of corn and beans from nearby areas to replace seeds farmers have lost. This is to preserve and plant native varieties that are resistant to diseases and adapted to local conditions. EPIC has obtained heritage vegetable seeds and is now sending them to Guatemala and Honduras for replanting vegetable gardens. Essential mitigation work involves gully control, water reservoirs to control run off and hold water for later irrigation, soil conservation, and planting trees for reforestation and fruit production.

EPIC’s program partners know what has to be done, and EPIC will do everything we can to support them. Please donate generously now so they can continue restoring farm productivity and doing mitigation work to buffer the impact of an increasingly hostile environment.

Thank you,

Paul and Mary McKay

Using local stones for gully control and to protect fields from erosion