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The world as we know it is changing All the general systems of how we get our food, paint and socialize have been interrupted due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
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Tyee’s reports provoked local food movements, replaced legislation and began mandatory talks.As our society evolves as a result of COVID-19, the time has come to communicate ambitious solutions.
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The global as we know it is changing All general systems of how we get our food, paint and socialize have been disrupted due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
We want ways to report not only what is happening today, but also what might be imaginable for tomorrow.Since 2003, The Tyee has been doing in-depth reporting, presenting voices that don’t appear regularly in the media, and proposing imaginable answers to our urgent problems.
Tyee’s reports provoked local food movements, replaced legislation and began mandatory talks.As our society evolves as a result of COVID-19, the time has come to communicate ambitious solutions.
We must make these kinds of reports based on solutions and make them available to everyone for free, as we are backed by a strong core of Tyee readers.
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Emi Sasagawa is an award-winning journalist who has reported on issues such as housing and homelessness, intellectual aptitude, and the legalization of marijuana. She earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of British Columbia in 2015.
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Adonias is 19 years old, his small stature makes him look younger, his hair is short, black, stiff, his eyes dark brown, he lives in a small space with his parents, two sisters and an aunt, in Cobon, a city in the highlands of the central cardamom and coffee region of Guatemala, where The Tyee sometimes appears as a component of an assignment in association with TulaSalud , an initiative of the Tula Foundation, which budgets for rural public fitness paintings in the Central American country.
While most adolescents in Canada adapt to social restriction and school mediation through computer screens, in Guatemala, being young the pandemic has tended to mean more heartbreaking changes.their families crisis.
“My father, my sister and my aunt painted. My sister and my aunt lost their assignments. And for my father, it is very dear to him to get to the painting because of our lack of access to public transport. This makes my task still more “important to our survival,” he told Tyee, watch a video of verbal exchange with Adonias below.
Like many others his age, Adonias is the first in his circle of relatives to dare to dream beyond what was once conceivable for his parents and others before them.It is part of Guatemala’s new generation, which, after a 36-year civil war.which ended in 1996, you can see a better future. Then COVID-19 came here.
Earlier this year, the young merchant enrolls in a pc-by-mail licensing program, after two years of absence from school for monetary reasons.”Many other young people drop out of school to work, especially as they progress in the classroom.. Many leave to learn about a trade, where they can start earning cash early,” said Wilson Boche, Guatemalan economic analyst specializing in health.
Adonias’ dream was to complete the program and pursue university studies in the capital, where he might only pursue a career.”I sought to move on, without preventing again. When I started my studies this year, I thought I was in a position to deal with it, but then the pandemic hit and it has become difficult to continue.Now I’m not so sure I can finish it, ” he added.
Their story is one of the millions among the youngest generation in Latin America, their lives are suspended by the coronavirus.As the pandemic hits businesses, hinders mobility, and tests the capacity of governments, other young people will have to mobilize towards their suffering families.casual and unregulated situations that put them at risk of contracting the virus.
And so, as Canadian academics prepare to return to school in September, many in Guatemala are threatened with dropping out of school altogether.For many of them, taking online courses is not possible.”Internet access is limited, especially in rural areas, where connectivity is really low and academics don’t even have access to electricity,” Boche said.
The social effects can be felt for years to come. “As families struggle to make ends meet, more and more young people will be forced to drop out of school and work. Many will not finish the year. Who knows if that means they possibly won’t. Come back,” he added Boche. (Here’s another video of a Guatemalan woman forced to drop out of school due to the pandemic.)
According to 2018 census data, a giant component of Guatemala’s population is minors, as is typical in emerging countries, approximately one in 3 Guatemalans is between 10 and 24 years old, compared to one in six in Canada.65 years old, the image is upside down: about one in 18 people is an older user in Guatemala, while in Canada it is one in six.These demographic differences help explain why the pandemic, in Guatemala and other Southern Cone countries, has tended to a much younger population than regions such as North America and Europe.
Another thing is the type of jobs that can be given to other young people. In Guatemala, Boche observed, “we have a young labor sector who cannot stay home if they still have their jobs. So they faint and go to work. At risk. These are other people who are constantly on the move.
“Further, because many of these young people lack enough nutrition to protect themselves against the virus, they are even more vulnerable to complications.In the long run, this can have devastating effects on the country’s economy.”
In recent months, Darius Adonias has noticed that many of his friends lose their jobs, they too were running to bring cash to help their families. According to Fredy Argueta, a political analyst, it is estimated that almost a third of the country’s work The force has lost its jobs since the first case of COVID-19 was presented in March.The few people who have been able to continue running are willing to go further to make sure this doesn’t change, even if that means putting their lives at risk.
This is the deceptive scenario of Adonijah.” At the moment, we don’t know who’s inflamed and who’s not.We run a lot of dangers just because we’re at work,” he said.
“The fact is, I have no choice. If it were up to me, I’d stay home, but I have to paint to help my family.I constantly think of the threat not only for myself, but also for my family.”It’s been very hard for me psychologically, but it’s a threat I have to take every day, taking all the necessary precautions.At the end of the day, you have to move on.”
In March, the Guatemalan government began imposing restrictions on coronavirus control, adding the closure of regional and municipal borders, fines for citizens who do not wear masks in public spaces and strict curfews.These measures to restrict case rates have erected debilitating barriers for Para Adonías, curfew has reduced their painting hours and wages; In just a few weeks, he saw his source of income drop from 2,500 quetzals (C$436) consistent with the month to less than 1,800 quetzals (C$314).
“Wage cuts have a significant effect on poorer populations, especially those that may have struggled before the crisis.Without a rough date for lifting restrictions, many more would possibly fall below the poverty line, where some of Guatemalans are already alive,” Argutata said.
But other young people defy pandemic restrictions and are at significant risk.If they are caught violating curfew, they would possibly be fined or sent to prison, where overcrowding is linked to maximum COVID-19 levels.of a former imprisoned national fitness minister, but the cells continue to fill up.By early July, more than 30,000 more people had been arrested by police and imprisoned for violating the curfew.
“At one point, there were more detainees than others who tested positive for COVID-19,” Boche said.Alta Verapaz, one of the poorest provinces in the country, where Adonías lives, is among the regions with police apprehension rates.
“Many other people had to break the curfew to get to the paintings on time or to stay until the department store closes.Because the restrictions say you can’t leave your house, they don’t ask you if you want to paint, they just keep you. It’s the concern of most people who paint, not get home on time.Unfortunately, those are the regulations that are being implemented and we are looking to comply with them.There are cases where it is difficult to obey them.” Adonias said.
In Guatemala City, the country’s capital, many took to the streets to protest the strict restrictions, but for now, curfews do not have an end in sight.
“There is a wonderful frustration because the measures have not delivered the promised results,” anthropologist Mario de León told Tyee.”People are really disappointed — aggressive, paranoid, worried — because they want the paintings to survive.the casual sector, where it is mandatory to be face-to-face, close.»
In fact, more than 75% of Guatemala’s workforce participates in the informal economy, often working on their own or in odd jobs untaxed and tax-free controlled by the state, but the organization also includes others like Adonias. , who works full time. in a grocery store, they have no formal contract and prestige to access grants and monetary aid that are provided through government programs.
“Many of these young people have no social assistance, they have no protection.Only about 5% of other people over the age of 14 to 29 have access to pensions and employment insurance through social assistance.They are often other young people, who win through a circle of relatives of five or six, and cost them dearly,” Boche said.
The pandemic and the closures it caused, experts noted, are creating an epidemic of the shadow of intellectual aptitude disorders around the world.In British Columbia, a government survey found that nearly a portion of the province’s citizens experienced a deterioration in their intellectual aptitude.The people over the age of 18 to 29 suffered the most, intellectually and economically.
In Guatemala, this age organization is exhibiting serious symptoms of a ruptured tension, anthropologist Leon said.He sees the rise of violence and despair.”With COVID, there has been an increase in the suicide rate among young people.This would possibly be due to 3 factors: a point of decline in remittances from abroad, the precarious operating conditions and education, and the fact that many have assumed a duty to feed their families.
David Beasley, director of the United Nations World Food Programme, says the COVID-19 crisis has dramatically increased the number of people suffering from hunger in Latin America.Lack of food confidence in the region has increased by 269% since the start of the pandemic.Since July 30, the Canadian Armed Forces have delivered several pallets of COVID-19-related materials from the United Nations Food Program and the Pan American Health Organization to Guatemala.
But Argueta doubts that help has the desired effect.Corruption will prevent many materials from getting what is needed, he predicted.
When Adonias looks to the long term, the long-term he once hoped dissolves before his eyes.”Things are getting worse in Guatemala and also in Cobón,” he said.”What worries me most now is feeding my family.How will we make sure we leave the other end, if the restrictions become stricter?»
In mid-July, the government responded to the accumulation of cases by implementing a one-day closure.For Adonias and his family, order meant deepening to repel hunger and find patience.”It’s one less day’s work, we’ve noticed a massive change in the way we eat.All we do is make sure we have enough to eat.”
He paused for a moment, for a note of hope.”I think we have a little more time before we can move forward.”
This article is from a continuous series, discovered here.
Read more: Health, Coronavirus, Industrial Work
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