I just got word that Rafael Juarez just died. I don’t think I mentioned him before; he was the field coordinator for Computers for Guatemala. A few months back, he came out to our village to see Marcos’s latrine and learn more about composting latrines. While we were here, we had a great time with him and Eulalia, his coworker. As it turned out, he already knew Marcos; they once played in a band together. Since then we’ve bumped into him a few times, and he always gives us a ride when he sees us walking along the road into town.

Rafael was young, about my age, and male- which puts him in the low risk group for most of the causes of death in Guatemala. Except for alcoholism, which is what got him. I didn’t realize that he had an ongoing struggle with the bottle, but apparently he checked himself into rehab 2 weeks ago and didn’t check out. We are told that about 700 people showed up for the funeral. That’s not surprising; he’s one of those guys we think of as “hope for Guatemala”: highly educated, professional, community-minded, enthusiastic. It’s a splash of cold water to realize that these things don’t make someone immune to the #1 killer of male adults in Guatemala.

Rest in peace, Rafael.