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I met a man recently who carries wood from a river basin up a steep hill to the road. It takes him 20 minutes to walk down and 1 ½ hours to load the wood on his back and walk up the hill to the road. He can make 3 trips a day. He's paid Q25 a day...$3. His son attends school with torn clothes and ill-fitting, worn shoes. His teacher buys his pencils and paper. Mom, dad, and 5 children live in a small house with dirt floors, walls made only of corn stalks, and mom cooks over an open fire. Their meals consist only of tortillas and a meager helping of beans. I can't make this stuff up...it's the heart breaking reality of life here.
Remember the lyrics by Johnny Rivers "It's hard to find nice things on the poor side of town"? It applies to every village here. Families suffer from lack of water, no food security, little resources to seek medical care, and most have only a 6th grade education. Children do not receive essential nutrients for normal growth and cognitive development. They are behind during their first 1,000 days and never catch up. To help with the family income, kids are working in a corn field instead of going to school. Many young girls stay home to care for their younger siblings and are denied education.
Joel, 7 years old, works in a corn field instead of going to school.
How can families get ahead? They can't. They can hardly feed their kids much less provide health care and an education. They try. They work extremely hard but still struggle with the daily stress of living in extreme poverty. Parents are the same here - they want a better life for their kids - but they face obstacles we can't imagine.
Will you be their Partner in Education? Provide a scholarship so a child can attend school.
Will you be their Partner in Health? Buy a Chapina stove and eliminate smoke in their house. Make a donation to buy medicine or to help a cancer patient.
You are part of our team when you make a donation. Please help us continue doing what we are doing - Saving Lives, Changing Lives.
Lois Werner
President & Co-Founder
Change someone's life today!
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Meet Amilcar
Amilcar Vielman is the Director of Hombres y Mujeres en Accion, our in-country partner organization. Many of you met Amilcar while visiting us in Guatemala or during his visits to the United States and Canada. He has worked with us for the past eight years.
His openness, congenial personality and sense of humor is shared with everyone he meets. Amilcar is a dedicated leader and compassionate about helping others. He tirelessly works along side indigenous people in remote villages teaching them how to organize and work together to make improvements in their community.
Amilcar's job is enormous. He supervises 10 employees and coordinates visiting construction, medical and dental teams. He works at every construction project, hosts donors and guests, holds meetings with committees in the rural villages, and documents progress of the projects. His attention to detail makes every project a success from start to finish.
He lives in Jocotenango with his wife Adriana, his daughter Ivana and his son Ignacio. We are proud to work with Amilcar and truly grateful for his kind heart and willingness to make his corner of the world a better place.
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Youthlinc Guatemala 2015 Team Visit
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n July, 41 young adults and leaders from Utah made many new friends during their two-week stay in Las Escobitas, a remote village in San Martín Jilotepeque. From opening ceremonies to tearful goodbyes, the days were filled with activities in the village. They worked along side families mixing cement to cover dirt floors with concrete in 22 houses, painted the elementary school, built a school playground, installed Chapina stoves, poured a sidewalk at the school, and taught reading, math, and English classes to the students. Adults attended business classes and learned new skills in sewing class and cutting hair. At the health fair they discussed topics such as hygiene and child care, as well as human rights and gender equality. It was two weeks of fun, hard work, and sharing friendships that will never be forgotten. Thank you Youthlinc!
Youthlinc creates lifetime humanitarians.
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Do you know?
Guatemala's estimated population is 14,647,000 and 40% are indigenous. That's 5.8 million indigenous people and 75% of the those people live in poverty. That's over four million people living a daily struggle without water, health care, or education. There are 23 official languages. The median age is only 21 years old and nearly one half of Guatemala's children under 5 are malnourished.
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We are proud to announce....
Dr. Maria Jose Alvarado joined our team on August 3 as our new Health
Coordinator. She graduated from Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina, ELAM Cuba in 2012. Dr. Alvarado attended various professional classes and received her medical license in Guatemala in 2014. Besides treating patients at our 12 monthly health clinics, she conducts staff training and works with our visiting medical and dental teams. Dr. Alvarado also manages our patients with critical needs including surgeries and cancer.
In addition to her clinic duties, she will be developing health education and training programs for indigenous families, and conducting classes on reproductive health, hygiene, and nutrition.
Dr. Alejandra Barahona
opened our first-ever dental clinic in October. Dr. Barahona graduated from San Carlos University in Guatemala and has her
dental practice in Jocotenango. Dr. Barahona sees patients every Wednesday and Thursday in our clinic in San Martin.
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Best wishes to Dr. Hernandez
For more than two years, Dr. Gabriela Hernández led our health team and treated thousands of patients in our clinics. Thank you, Dr. Hernández for your caring and compassionate work with us.
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We Appreciate Our Partner
Thanks to Health Ministries Association in Independence, Missouri for their valuable support. Their members help sponsor monthly health clinics in four remote mountain villages and provide resources to help pay for diagnostic tests and treatments for our critically ill patients.
Learn More About Their Work
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We Appreciate Our Partner
Thanks to the Armstrong Foundation, over the past 5 years, we have completed 21 village water projects bringing running water to over 15,000 people. Besides the village water projects, the Armstrong Foundation supported a potable water project at the national hospital near Antigua in 2013 bringing drinking water to employees and 1000s of patients.
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We Appreciate Our Partner
Thanks to Rotary Foundation, District 5030 in collaboration with Rotary Clubs in Vashon Island, Lake Union Neighborhood, Fremont, Renton, West Seattle and Mill Creek, Antigua Guatemala Rotary Club,, 85 families have running water at their homes and new composting latrines in the community of El Molino.
In the village of El Sauce, 250 families will have running water by Christmas. This project was support by
District 5420: Centerville - Farmington, Holladay, Vernal, Guatemala Oeste Rotary Club and the Rotary Foundation.
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Our New Health Facility Will Be A Reality
On
September 15 we broke ground for our new health facility made possible through our partners, the Antonio Roca Family who donated the land and donations for the construction of the building from Naples United Church of Christ. Because of their generous contributions, this new health facility will be a reality. Construction will be complete in early 2016.
This 2,700 square foot building will house exam rooms, a pharmacy, a dental clinic, triage and a patient waiting area. The rooms are designed with movable walls to accommodate visiting medical and dental teams from the United States and around the world.
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Have you always wanted to travel and help others?
Put a medical or dental team together and come to Guatemala. We are scheduling our 2016 teams now. Let's talk! Call us at 941 244 8692 or write to us at [email protected]
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Today is a great day to change a life!
Patients come to our health clinics because "they heard we will help them." Every week our health team is overwhelmed with the crucial needs of the people. They treat patients from common colds to rare diseases.
Juan Carlos was born with spina bifida and cannot use his legs. This child is suffering from a severe infection in his lower extremity and is in constant pain.
Juan's mother has no means of income and cannot pay for the antibiotics needed to treat her son.
Juan Carlos during his first visit in April 2014
Today, Juan Carlos is a thriving 3 year old boy
Lidia was born with a cleft palate and was starving because her mother could not breast feed Lidia and mom didn't have money to buy formula. We started a nutritional program for Lidia and arranged for surgery when Lidia reached her optimal weight.
Lidia, 11 months old, during her visit at our clinic
After surgery, Lidia is a healthy 16-month old girl
More kids need your help.
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"I can live without electricity but I can't live without water"
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A woman collecting water at a spring in her village |
Hundreds of families are still without running water in San Martin. For women and children, their morning and afternoon routine includes walking 30 to 45 minutes to a spring for 3 or 4 gallons of water. The paths to the springs are unsafe, muddy, and early in the morning they are dark and dangerous. The afternoon trek is hot and tiresome. Many school absences are contributed to diseases caused from contaminated water.
READ MORE...
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People for Guatemala, Inc.
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 110221
Naples, FL 34108
Contact us: 941 244 8962 in the U.S.
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