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Jesus Struggling with Climate Change

Jesús García Hernández, Los Horcones, Langue, Valle

"The drought has been going on for ten years. It’s due to climate change. Winters were good before. But now we’ve had years without water here. We’ve got dry streams, rivers and wells. We lose our seeds and fertilizers; we even lose our hope sometimes.

There are families here who haven’t had a harvest for ten years. We’ve all just lost another harvest. We prepared the soil, put in the seeds and fertilizers and, when the first bit of rain came, the plants began growing. Then the rain stopped. We got nothing. Then the rain came again but it was too late. After ten years of drought the people here have used up their reserves and there’s desperation.

We’ve had to deepen the wells, but they still dry up. The water is going down - it’s climate change.

A lot of people have left the area. Some go to work in other places as labourers or security guards or cleaners. And some risk the journey to the States. What else is there to do?"

Filename: Honduras_Hawkey_20160729_022.jpg
Copyright: Sean Hawkey, all rights reserved
Image Size: 5616x3744 / 14.5MB; Honduras Jesus Latin American climate change country countryside drought hammock landscape man man only portrait rural area rural scene climate crisis
Contained in galleries: Climate crisis, Honduras

Jesus Struggling with Climate Change<br />
<br />
Jesús García Hernández, Los Horcones, Langue, Valle<br />
<br />
"The drought has been going on for ten years. It’s due to climate change. Winters were good before. But now we’ve had years without water here. We’ve got dry streams, rivers and wells. We lose our seeds and fertilizers; we even lose our hope sometimes.<br />
<br />
There are families here who haven’t had a harvest for ten years. We’ve all just lost another harvest. We prepared the soil, put in the seeds and fertilizers and, when the first bit of rain came, the plants began growing. Then the rain stopped. We got nothing. Then the rain came again but it was too late. After ten years of drought the people here have used up their reserves and there’s desperation.<br />
<br />
We’ve had to deepen the wells, but they still dry up. The water is going down - it’s climate change.<br />
<br />
A lot of people have left the area. Some go to work in other places as labourers or security guards or cleaners. And some risk the journey to the States. What else is there to do?"