Valeriano's Story

Valeriano Gonzales lives in Bajo Lempa in El Salvador, an area which is becoming increasingly vulnerable to flooding and drought.

“Climate change in this country makes things complicated. Often the river floods and all life is swamped with water. Our animals drown, our crops are destroyed and we need to start all over again.

“After that we might suffer a period of drought and our crops will shrivel and die because of a lack of rain. It’s difficult to know what to do to cope with the situation.

“Last year we prepared the land and we cultivated, but just after sowing, winter came and we had no rain at all. That drought affected us very seriously, all of our crops died. We waited for the rain, cultivated and sowed, and when the plants were big and beautiful, the river flooded and it killed everything…

“Hurricance Mitch affected the majority of the Central American countries when it struck in 1999. We were badly hit and lost all our crops. The majority of our cattle also drowned. After Mitch, there was a lot of disease as the flooding blocked our latrines and rendered our sanitary services unusable. Life was really difficult.

“Then we had Hurricane Stan in 2005 and a few years later the river overflowed and we were flooded again. The bottom line is that we live in poverty. There are many people here who are not able to produce or develop, who are impotent, who are marginalised.

“Things could be improved if wealthy countries stopped their current behaviour, and would refrain from exploiting the environment. But as industrialised countries continue to fuel the growth of their industries and multinationals we suffer from the impact, and that for us is like a death threat.

“We are taking the biggest hit, as they say, because we do not have the resources to defend ourselves and wealthy governments are not helping to stop the contamination of our environment. Nobody seems to remember that poor countries such as ours remain vulnerable and are the ones that are going to suffer the impact of their actions.

“I ask the governments of Scotland, the UK and the most developed countries, to consider their behaviour and to do something to save our planet.

“There is room for each of us but we need governments to make changes. The industrialised countries know about the problems that the changing weather is causing the poorest countries. They should invest in improving the lives of the people that they are affecting and find a way to counteract the terrible impact of the climate change.”

With help from SCIAF and their local partner CESTA, Valernio’s community are working together to protect themselves from the effects of climate change.

A special committee monitors river levels, watching for the early warning signs of a flood. When flood or hurricane approaches, messages are broadcast to the community over a loudhailer system letting people know that it is time to evacuate and get to a safe place.

They have also built a safe house where they can shelter during floods or hurricanes. Through training and education, they are teaching people about the problems caused by climate change and helping their community to adapt.