Jacky Muniello

On the shores of a swamp in port Chicxulub, located in the northwest of the Yucatán, there are residential neighborhoods with houses built from sheet canvas and wood. Some structures are made of concrete, but they are unfinished, just a shell. Architectural differences aside, what most houses have in common is the lack of basic services such as electricity and running water. In addition, due to the rains, they frequently experience flooding. The second issue is that the families who live there, especially girls and boys, face conditions that endanger their health. The environment is unhealthy due to accumulated garbage, unhygienic conditions, and water stagnation, contributing to the spread of devastating diseases. Among them, the most commonly reported are skin infections caused by fungi and a disease caused by a migratory larva – a small white worm – that, upon entering the body, causes fever and skin lesions - not to mention the risk of contracting dengue, sika, or chikungunya spread by mosquitoes. Another problem is child malnutrition, which is related to the lack of employment for the adults who live there, which has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. In many of the homes, at least six people live together. Children may receive only one meal a day and suffer from diseases due to their weakened immune systems. Education is also a serious problem because, due to the pandemic, children can’t attend classes. They often don’t have a TV or internet to watch classes and are thus not receiving a basic education. In this neighborhood, the common denominator is scarcity.