We went on a walk on Sunday morning. As we left the hostel in Asunción you can see that some people were outside, but it was like a ghost town. In the U.S., everybody is out doing something on Sunday, the reason why is that their religion is Catholic, meaning everySunday is their day of rest. While walking, we stopped by a church and the Presidential Palace, and beside the Palace you can see people living in small homes made out of scrap metal and wood because their other homes were flooded.
Not only were those houses affected, but others near rivers had their homes flooded, too. Some had to move twice because the water rose again. The government wouldn’t help them get better homes to live in because they didn’t see it as an economic problem. People had to take any open spaces in the city to find shelter.
I feel bad for them because of the conditions they are living in, and that their houses got flooded. People say it’s their fault that their homes got flooded because they warned them about how heavy rains will make the water rise and take away their homes. Nobody listened because there was no other place to go, and the government wouldn’t give them the land they asked for.
Now, who is at fault? I think it’s the government’s fault because they knew the river water would rise. Now they have to pay the price to provide shelter and food for them. After the walk, I have changed how I should respect more of what I have and receive because, my community can get flooded and I will have to grab some items I want to keep because I can’t hold on to every thing I have and take it with me in the middle of a flood.
Jyan, 15, Forrestville High School