Coronavirus strands Kansas City-area church group in Guatemala where border is closed
They had barely begun their spring break mission trip to Guatemala when countries around the world began closing their borders to contain the novel coronavirus.
Retired physician Marty Kanne and the Kansas City-area church mission group he leads decided they needed to pack up and get out quick.
On Monday, Kanne, 14 teen-agers and four other adults from Platte Woods United Methodist Church tried to beat the midnight deadline Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei had announced that day.
They got to the airport in the capital city with plenty of time to spare only to find flights canceled and the airport closed. Even the charter flight the church had tried to arrange was grounded.
And they weren’t the only ones trapped.
“There are 200 U.S. citizens here trying to get out,” Kanne said by phone Wednesday afternoon. “Frankly, one plane would get us all out of here.”
But as of Thursday evening, the Guatemalan government was still refusing to let anyone in or out of the country now that cases of Covid-19 have been detected in that Central American nation.
That has some members of Missouri’s congressional delegation scrambling to find a solution that will bring the Platte Woods group home. Both senators, Republicans Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, were asking the Trump administration for assistance, as were the two House members who represent the Kansas City area: Republican Sam Graves and Democrat Emanuel Cleaver.
But in a video meeting with parents Thursday afternoon, a Hawley staffer was unable to report much progress.
“Sounds like Sen. Hawley is leaning on State Dept., but Embassy there is not super helpful re: getting them out,” one of those parents, Susan Mason, reported via text message.
“They said they are only helping with emergencies, not travel since the airport and land border is closed,” said Mason, whose 16-year-old son Mark is a sophomore at Park Hill High School.
According to the church in Platte Woods, Blunt’s office recommended that the group stay in the capital city until the State Department can get them out. That way they will be closer to the airport, medical facilities and the U.S. embassy than they would be in the more remote area they had been staying.
Kanne said he can’t complain about the group’s quarters in the capital. He got a good deal on rooms at the Westin hotel in Guatemala City. But the kids, ranging in age from 14 to 17, would like to come home.
“They are lonely and missing their families,” he said. “But they are so resilient and brave. They understand the situation.”
They recognize, too, that they are living through a key moment in world history.
But still.
“Yes, the borders are closed,” he said, “but that should be for letting people in, not letting people out.”
Peru, similarly, restricted all international flights, while most nations have restricted arrivals, not departures.
Kanne has been visiting Guatemala for decades to help the country’s citizens lift themselves out of poverty. He typically goes two or three times a year to scout possible construction projects and leads church mission trips every couple of years.
This week’s project was in Chichicastenango, a Mayan town northwest of Guatemala City.
“We’re building a kitchen for schools,” he said. “I love the people. I love the culture.”
A church spokeswoman said Platte Woods United Methodist has for 20 years helped the poor in Guatemala and Honduras.
“About 150 members of the church have visited the communities in which the church works in those countries,” a church fact sheet said. “Projects facilitated through this partnership have included everything from medical clinics to construction of schools, churches and farmers’ markets.“
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
