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Guinea Grass Villagers Protest
posted (August 19, 2020)
Tonight, the villagers of Guinea Grass are hungry and enraged. They say that while support in the form of food assistance has been arriving in the village it's been less of a stream and more of a dripping faucet.

Now, they're losing faith in the promises made by the Central Government and this afternoon went to the newly established border of their village at the police checkpoint to make their demands heard. We heard from one man who says that the food assistance has failed to consider the children.

Bernaldino Camara, Guinea Grass Resident
"Our message is the necessity that has brought each and every one of us to this place. There are people here from Red and Blue and even those who aren't a part of any party I came personally to represent the children. When we call for assistance they ask us a ton of questions: how many children do you have, what are their ages, even their names, their social security and when the family gets food there is nothing for the children. The reason why they ask you all these things is because they want to know who they're helping and if there are elederly people or children in the house and that's why it would be hoped that something would arrive for them as well."

Villagers also say they need to get money from the ATM, go shopping for items that they can't find in the village, and even purchase medicine.

And while they didn't demand action today they are demanding it by tomorrow, asking that the deprivations of the lockdown be taken into account.

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