In disbursing contributions to any relief fund, UUSC focuses on ensuring that aid is directed to historically oppressed and marginalized populations, as well as communities that have been neglected or overlooked by organized relief efforts.

In the case of Guatemala, the Mayan people in the western highlands that were so badly affected by the flooding and the landslides have been politically, economically, and socially marginalized by the government and Ladino population since the Spanish Conquest.

The underdevelopment in the highlands, inadequate roads, poor bridges, an inadequate service structure, and low income have already made this population more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters. The brutal scorched earth campaign against them during the civil war decimated many of these communities.

UUSC has selected the following grassroots organizations in Guatemala to receive support from the UUSC Guatemala Relief Fund:

Sinergia N’oh
Based in Guatemala City, Sinergia N’oh focuses on gender issues and is currently offering support to many of the diverse peasant and indigenous organizations in all of the affected areas to help them articulate their specific needs, problems, and capacities for recovery.

Asociacion de Mujeres Madre Tierra
This women's campesina organization of San Marcos also includes many of the women who returned from refugee camps in Mexico, they work with women in all of the affected areas but particularly the coastal areas and the area around Santiago Atitlan.

Asociación Maya Nuevo Sembrador
Asociación Maya Nuevo Sembrador is an all-Mayan cooperative located in Panabaj just outside of Santiago Atitlán. The cooperative's community development projects include a collective organic coffee farm, a housing project for local war widows, a women's voter registration campaign, and local literacy efforts.

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