While the site is being designed and built, feel free to browse the tags to the right, or the categories to the left, and explore topics that relate to the Guatemalan way of life.
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Welcome to the Clinic Link blog. Clinic Link is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization (IRS Determination Letter), whose central activity is to create a free website devoted to improving the health potential of the Guatemalan people. The site will contain tools to help traveling medical missions, Guatemalan NGO’s, and development groups to work better, together.
The people of San Juan La Laguna need your help!
Project C.U.R.E. is seeking experienced family practice doctors, dentists, and nurses are to staff a clinic in San Juan La Laguna from November 27 – December 10, 2010. Prominent diseases and areas of treatment include gastrointestinal, fungal infections, respiratory, hypertension, and gynecology. The cost for this trip is $2,000 including airfare, accommodations, in-country transportation and meals. The work at the clinic can be followed by a short leisure trip around Santiago touring various markets, coffee farms, and nature preserves, and a drive to Antigua, a quaint Spanish city that has been preserved in its original form. To participate in this rewarding and wonderful opportunity please contact jeanfeist@projectcure.org.
HISTORY: IMI Guatemala is the pilot project of the U.S. non-profit Intelligent Mobility International, or “IMI. The idea started from a collaboration with students from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and students from Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City. After a great first 10 weeks, the group grew to include students from another California based university, the Art Center College of Design, and soon after launched IMI. As the first in-country subsidiary of IMI, IMI Guatemala creates a local presence, allowing for the best possible manufacturing, user feedback and appropriate design in the creation of low cost mobility devices including their first product, an award winning appropriate wheelchair. IMI and IMI Guatemala work together to create and develop an affordable, ergonomic, durable and low cost wheelchair, designed and assembled with wheelchair users from partner Transitions of Guatemala. VISION: IMI believes that supplying mobility can change lives. With the help of low cost, appropriate mobility devices, those with limited resources can regain mobility and live an active and productive life. Their task is to empower people with disabilities who are living in both urban and isolated rural areas to have the tools to become reintegrated with their communities. MISSION: To partner with local designers and in-country disability NGOs throughout the world to produce low cost mobility devices, supply training, and offer job opportunities. Every detail of their wheelchair design accounts for the developing world environment for which it was made. To effect any lasting change in the developing world your product must integrate the following elements: Cost, Quality, and Sustainability. Their wheelchair accounts for all of them:
To learn more about the work of IMI, please visit their website.
In the early 1990’s, Hope Haven, headquartered out of Rock Valley, Iowa (USA), had an opportunity to get a first-hand look at the living conditions that persons with disabilities experience in foreign countries. Through this experience, a formal proposal regarding Hope Haven developing an international ministry was approved by Hope Haven’s Board of Trustees in 1993 and thus was the beginning of HHIM. Since then, we have expanded our Iowa based ministry to 9 other satellite shops located in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, as well as two international shops located in Guatemala and Romania. HHIM rebuilds donated wheelchairs, as well as manufactures the Hope Haven KidChair in both Iowa and Guatemala, and delivers them to people in need around the world. Mission of Hope Haven International Ministries: The mission of Hope Haven International Ministries is to assist persons with disabilities to reach their potential. This purpose is accomplished by providing support for the development of opportunities for improving the economic and social welfare and independence of people with disabilities within countries and cultures throughout the world. This ministry, as with all of Hope Haven’s services, is “a ministry of Christian mercy based on the conviction that God’s Word speaks to and directs all of life.” Hope Haven Guatemala: In the summer of 2008, Hope Haven’s Director of Operations moved to Guatemala to live full time and operate a new wheelchair manufacturing facility. Hope Haven is now employing wheelchair users and caretakers in this new shop. People are learning new job skills and making a standard wage, so that they are now able to provide for their families and learn new trade skills. This shop is specializing in manufacturing the KidChair. After challenging the students of Dordt College, located in NW Iowa, to design a pediatric wheelchair to meet the specific needs of a disabled child living in a Third World country, the Hope Haven KidChair was born. With ongoing modifications and additions, as a result of continuous input from Engineers, Rehab Technicians, Therapists and families, The Hope Haven KidChair has evolved into a system which meets the needs of almost any child who requires wheelchair mobility while living in a demanding Third World environment. To learn more about this group, please visit its general website, Guatemalan website (in Spanish), or view a video of the workers in Guatemala. The following excerpt is from a February 7, 2010 article published by The Washington Post. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. IPALA, GUATEMALA — Red-shirted mariachis stroll singing and strumming into the dusty yard of a whitewashed villa where roosters crow the dawn. The lyrics of their serenade compare a maiden’s beauty to the shine of the moon, as homemade fireworks explode in the lightening sky. … Jennifer’s smile flashes on and off, as if she were groping for the proper response to all the attention. She is thinking about her mother, who was born in a shack around here and left as a famished farmer’s daughter 18 years ago. Now her mother cleans houses in suburban Maryland. And Jennifer has returned: A queen. An American citizen. This is her day. She hopes her Spanish doesn’t fail her. “I kind of get stuck on big words,” she says. Such great expectations have been invested in her, such dreams. She is proof of the future available to the children of those who strike out for a better life in the north. But her presence also speaks of a companion dream: The possibility of return, the possibility of never leaving at all. Jennifer contains both. She is origin and destination. The whole aching drama of immigration might be distilled in the story of one transnational teenager on her special day in the pueblo of her mother’s birth… Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more articles about Guatemalan Culture.
Here are a few of the many projects this group is committed to: Drilling Wells: A person dies every seven seconds due to water related diseases. This staggering statistic emphasizes the urgency for mobilization. Overcoming many roadblocks, hurdles and frustrations, the Wells of Hope Group has successfully transported its own drilling equipment to Jalapa, one of the poorest regions of Guatemala, Central America. As a result, there are now tens of thousands of Guatemalans receiving reliable, clean water directly to their homes. Where there was once no hope, people’s lives have changed dramatically. Medical Care: Odillia was in need of a hip replacement. The pain would not allow her to sleep at night or walk during the day. She needed $3,000 for the operation, but her financial situation was similar to most people who make up the communities in the mountains of Santa Maria, Jalapa. Her children had all grown up and moved away. Her husband had passed away many years ago. She barely had enough food to survive on. So Odillia gave up the only resource that she had. She sold her three-room adobe dwelling to pay for the operation. Three months later, the pin that had been placed as a joint to secure her hip snapped. She was now in even greater pain than before and she had absolutely nothing left to finance another operation. Wells of Hope has become an avenue for many doctors from Southern Ontario to come to Guatemala on a volunteer basis and minister to those who cannot otherwise afford medical attention. The Wells of Hope team organizes medical clinics in the rural mountain communities and the visiting doctors spend long days relieving the nightmare of pain that many have been forced to endure. The doctors donate their time, and bring medicine with them. However, there is still a need for funds to pay for operations like those needed by Odillia. Stoves: The average Guatemalan family relies on wood to cook their meals. Cooking with homemade wood burning stoves presents numerous challenges. The stoves are not efficient, so the women of the household must spend many hours each week searching for wood. The rudimentary design of the stoves causes the adobe huts of the Guatemalans to fill with dense smoke whenever they are put into use. The women who use the stoves for cooking, as well as the young children in their care, spend the better part of the day inhaling the smoke filled air. As a result, a large percentage of these women and children are afflicted with severe respiratory problems. Using simple designs proven in successful trials, the Wells of Hope Group has begun to subsidize the construction of wood efficient, smokeless stoves. The stoves are constructed using local materials that are readily available. Under the direction of Wells of Hope, local masons have been taught to build the stoves. These masons are then hired by the Wells of Hope Group to construct stoves for families who have been sponsored through the generosity of Wells of Hope supporters. To learn more about this group, please visit their website. To read about a group of volunteers preparing to visit Wells of Hope, click here.
Supporting Guatemalan Cottage Industry: Because they are a volunteer organization, 100% of all donations go directly to their projects. Administrative expenses are funded by the sale of handicrafts produced in Guatemala’s cottage industry. Additionally, the sale of handicrafts provides the Mayan women an opportunity to earn an income from their home while taking care of their children. If not for the handicraft industry, these women would need to work hard labor in the fields picking coffee and corn for 12 hour shifts away from home. Projects: Their goal is to make a lasting impact on the lives of the poorest of the poor. Here are some of the ways they strive to make a difference:
To learn more about this group, please visit their website. The following excerpt is from a February 2nd, 2010 article published by Guatemala Daily Photo. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. Luna De Xelaju: The Famous Guatemalan Waltz. “Moon of Xelajú”, has to be the most popular Guatemalan waltz played on marimba and quite possibly the most famous Guatemalan marimba song. “Xelajú” (pronounced shay-lah-HOO) is the old Mayan name for the Guatemalan city Quetzaltenango, still often popularly called “Xelajú” or “Xela”. Enjoy!
One day, one hospital, one patient at a time, PROJECT C.U.R.E. is changing the world!
PROJECT C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief & Equipment) was founded in 1987 to help meet the need for medical supplies, equipment and services around the world. PROJECT C.U.R.E. builds sustainable healthcare infrastructure by providing the medical supplies and equipment that medical personnel need to deliver healthcare to their communities. Since its inception, PROJECT C.U.R.E. has delivered medical relief to needy people in more than 120 countries. Programs: PROJECT C.U.R.E.’s unique programs are designed to help meet the needs for medical supplies and equipment and medical services in developing nations around the world.
To learn more about PROJECT C.U.R.E., please visit their website. The following excerpt is from a February 3, 2010 article published in The New York Times. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. In Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, they wait on corners for odd jobs, sending as much money as they can back home to Guatemala. They gather at the small churches that double as community centers. They sleep in apartments crowded with friends and family. And when members of the community die, as five did in a terrible blaze last weekend, they reach into meager savings to help send the bodies back home. … The workers say they are here simply to make money and, when they do, they try to send as much as possible to wives, children, parents and siblings. But recently there has not been enough to pay for themselves, let alone to subsidize others, so they come out again the next day, and stand in the cold waiting for work, seven days a week… Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read articles about the Guatemalan Economy.
Amigos de Patzún is predicated on the belief that education is a basic human right, and can be a catalyst of systemic change and development. ADP was founded in 2001 by three Peace Corps Volunteers teaching in rural Patzún: Karen Towers, Paul Butki, and Jessica Daly. All three were struck by the lack of opportunity for rural students and worked with a local teacher, Anacleto Catu, to start ADP. Amigos de Patzun’s programs now include: Middle School and High School Scholarships In Guatemala, less than 5% of rural students will complete primary school and less than 5% of those that do graduate will continue onto middle school or high school. Consequently, ADP provides scholarships for middle and high school students from the rural areas of Patzún, Guatemala who would like to continue their studies beyond the 6th grade. Students are selected through a competitive process that weighs academic achievement, demonstrated financial needs, and teacher recommendations. ADP scholarships include:
Scholars also receive special tutoring from Peace Corps Volunteers, and participate in an internship program in which they shadow professionals working in their fields of interest. In addition, as part of the terms of the scholarship, Amigos de Patzún scholars give back to their communities. All scholars elect service projects they feel would most benefit their communities. ADP scholars plant trees in deforested areas, plant and cultivate school gardens, and tutor students in their local elementary schools. ADP strives to go beyond the academic needs of the scholars and helps address hardships faced by the families and the larger community. They are making a difference in many rural communities and they are growing every year. Teacher Training Program We at ADP recognize that the ability to recruit competitive students from rural communities into a scholarship program operating in highly demanding urban settings is fundamentally dependent on the quality of education rural students receive. Only 2.6% of Guatemala’s GDP is spent on education and rural schools are hurting for materials and support1. Teachers in rural areas receive very little in-service training and often do not receive quality materials or text books for their classrooms. In addition, teachers working in these rural communities almost exclusively live in urban Patzún. To help address this disparity, ADP is working with a partner NGO, Miracles in Action, on a teacher training project that will equip rural teachers with skills and materials to improve didactic practices, including literacy, and provide certification to improve their professional development. The training includes a rigorous design with input from local teachers recognized for excellence by the Ministry of Education; instructional tool kits; continuous follow-up; and monitoring and evaluation. In addition, in January 2010, Miracles in Action and ADP helped teachers in Patzún launch a teacher resource center which will allow teachers to check out teaching materials to use in the classroom. The first pilot training took place in July 2008 in two rural communities, El Cojobal and La Pila, and has since expanded to cover more than fifteen rural villages. The program has been a great success and the Ministry of Education has asked ADP and Miracles in Action to expand this program to cover all of Patzún’s rural primary schools. 1 World Bank Education Statistics, Guatemala, 2008. To learn more about this group, please visit its website. Click here to read about one of this group’s partner organizations, Miracles in Action.
To visit the Reading village website, please click here. Belief Statement: Every child should be able to grow up free to express their fullest self, give what they have to contribute to their families, their communities, their countries and the world. Access to books, the ability to read, and to think critically and imaginatively are fundamental to the full development of individuals and society. Vision: Their vision is of a proud and thriving Guatemala that loves to read, where children grow up able to realize their full potential. Mission: With a focus on children, they work collaboratively with the residents of impoverished villages to create programs that develop a culture of reading. To read further about some of the children helped by Reading Village, check out their blog. Scholarships Public school is not free in Guatemala. In the communities where Reading Village works only 25% of the children study beyond the sixth grade. Reading Village has a scholarship fund you can donate to which has a double impact. It keeps a student in school, and that student gives time in return running reading activities with younger children in the community. Their scholars not only receive funding for school, they also provide leadership training, including field trips outside their community and opportunities to meet other student leaders in other communities. It is their desire to develop these young people into community leaders who will take ownership of creating a new future for themselves and their community. To visit the Reading Village website, please click the following link. The following excerpt is from an article published in the January, 2010 newsletter from Avivará. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. Recently it seems, they have been “taking it to the streets.” With the announcement in December that the government would be cutting 32,000 jobs in health, education and police due to the failure of the Guatemalan congress to approve a fiscal reform initiative, teachers blocked the major roadways into Guatemala City for several days in protest. The Guatemala Teacher’s Guild has been meeting over the last several weeks with Bienvenido Argueta, the newly appointed Guatemalan Minister of Education, to determine what supplies will be available for the start of school, including such items as basic teaching materials and snacks for students. Even though these meetings have been held behind closed doors, it was leaked that the Guild will likely call for a general teacher’ strike if their demands for adequate funding are not met. Argueta urged the teacher’s not to hinder the beginning of the school year, but also acknowledged their right to demonstrate… Click here to read the rest of this article, or here to read more about Guatemalan Education.
Casa Jackson is a recovery center for malnourished infants and children under the age of 11 years located in Antigua, Guatemala. As an integral part of The GOD’S CHILD Project network of international charities, Casa Jackson is a gift from Gene and Sue Jackson of Dickinson, North Dakota, USA. Casa Jackson exists to provide children with the medical, nutritional, and educational assistance they need for the quickest recovery possible. Specifically, Casa Jackson strives to:
The Casa Jackson Facility: Casa Jackson is located on the outskirts of Antigua, Guatemala in the village of San Felipe de Jesús, Guatemala. Behind the protective walls of the building, is the heart of operations for the center and place of in-house care. The welcoming atmosphere includes a fully-equipped medical clinic, kitchen, dining room, living room, office, store room, laundry facility, and garden. On the second floor are four carefully designed bedrooms for the severe cases of malnourishment and a commons area. The third story opens to a roof terrace where volunteers spend time interacting with the in-house patients as well as tending to a rooftop garden that is used as both an educational example to the children and a ready supply of fresh vegetables to the center. Children who are old enough, help water the gardens and are taught that just as plants need proper nutrition to grow, their bodies also need the same care. To learn more about Casa Jackson, please visit their website.
Over 1,400 women and children were seen in our medical clinic and all patients received donated pharmaceuticals from the COTA pharmacy. In addition to the above services, the orthotic and prosthetic team distributed walkers, wheelchairs and crutches to patients who were screened for these particular needs. The COTA dental team cared for 134 patients during our visit. One hundred volunteer medical and support staff members traveled from 16 different cities in the U.S. to travel with Children of the Americas for the 2010 team. To learn more about this group, please visit their website. Here is a sampling of photos from their trip:
The following excerpt is from a January 29, 2010 article published by the Latin American Times. To read the article in its entirety, click here. GUATEMALA CITY – Thousands of Guatemalan public school teachers impeded the start of the 2010 school year, staging a large demonstration on Friday to demand an increase in the education budget. “More than 40,000 teachers from all over the country” took part in the demonstration, which covered the main streets of Guatemala City’s historical center, the leader of the ANM union, Joviel Acevedo, said. A police spokesman, however, gave a much lower estimate, saying the number of demonstrators was “between 5,000 and 10,000.” Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more about Guatemalan Education… The following excerpt is from a January 29, 2010 article published by The Times of India. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. Chilean teenagers are becoming obese due to increasing fast food consumption while those from Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala are not far behind. Chile, where 44.7 percent of people over 15 were overweight in 2009, was the worst in Latin America and second in the world, said Euromonitor, which released a study on the subject. Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala have been listed among the 10 countries with the highest obesity rates among teenagers due to increasing fast food consumption. Last year 31.8 percent of Mexicans teenagers over the age of 15 were found to be obese. The country ranked fifth in the list followed by Venezuela which recorded 29.6 percent obese in the same age group. The figure was 27.5 percent in Guatemala which was in the tenth position… Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more articles about Guatemalan Health. Farmer to Farmer, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, envisions agriculture that is sustainable and respectful of the earth, that remains in the hands of the people who live and work the land. They support grassroots agricultural projects that are democratically initiated and managed. They affirm the sacredness of the earth and work for and respect the rights of all peoples and cultures to self-determination. There are currently two work trips in progress, one in the Honduras and one in Guatemala. To read further about the trips, check out the the trip’s blog. WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW Currently, their focus is on scholarship support in Guatemala, coffee marketing, and work trips for cross-cultural exchange. See their programs page for more. They’ve spent a lot of time on the ground in Guatemala, which gives them a clearer picture of what’s going on down there. They’ve had the opportunity to work with many inspiring individuals and groups, such as: To go to the Farmer to Farmer website, please click here.
The most important facet of Project Somos is to nurture the children to become compassionate and creatively intelligent adults who will enter society as productive citizens. The hope of Guatemala lies in their young people and the Village will be raising Guatemala’s future leaders, parents, teachers and professionals. As well as being designed to have an inherent beauty and harmony, the Village will be built to be eco-sustainable with alternative energy generation, rain water capture and grey water recycling. Organic agriculture will provide food for the moms and children. The goal of Project Somos is to reach financial sustainability through Social Enterprises. Small businesses will be established to employ locals and to financially sustain the project in a real and concrete way. Ideas for potential businesses at this time include; volunteer tourism, special event hall rental and agricultural production. Project Somos is open and excited to partner with existing local and foreign businesses to establish Social Enterprises. An ideal piece of land with existing structures has been found in Guatemala and at this time the Society is working on its Capital Campaign to secure the funding to purchase the property and to begin construction of the homes for the children. To learn more about this group, please visit their website, blog, or Facebook page.
Pueblo a Pueblo was formed to respond to the situation in Santiago Atitlan and other villages like it. Their aim is to contribute to building sustainable, viable and healthy indigenous communities in Guatemala. Their projects are developed in close collaboration with the local partners to respond to their most pressing needs. Each project is designed to build the capacity of the community to thrive on its own while achieving health, nutrition, and educational opportunities for the children and their families. They help provide the tools so that rather than being forced into a life of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, the children and their families can choose how to live their lives. They acknowledge that they cannot solve problems of poverty alone but only through teamwork and mutual partnerships. Pueblo a Pueblo supports the following key programs: Child Education Sponsorship Program Mother-Infant Sponsorship Program Elementary School Libraries Panabaj School Lunch Program Widows Housing Program To learn more about Pueblo a Pueblo, please visit their website.
Once a year, CMT takes a team of volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists, allied health professionals and support staff to Guatemala to perform general surgery, gynecological procedures, eye and dental care. CMT also takes a construction team that installs efficient ONIL wood burning stoves in Guatemalan homes. As of 2009, the construction team is also installing HELPS Gravity Water Filters, an inexpensive in-home purification system. CMT’s yearly mission is housed at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Altiplano, located just outside the city of Solola. This college campus provides the team with facilities for a small hospital and clinic, dormitories for men and women and a gymnasium that is used for meals and general meetings. While the setting is beautifully situated on a plateau overlooking Lake Atitlan in the highlands of central-western Guatemala, it is a region of extreme poverty. During each year’s week-long medical mission, people come from many miles around, usually by bus or on foot, seeking medical attention. Members of the CMT team pay their own way to and from Guatemala, including expenses for food, lodging and transportation. However, CMT must raise the funds for all costs associated with the medical supplies and equipment. CMT’s ninth Guatemalan mission begins on Saturday, February 20, 2010 and ends on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. To learn more about CMT, please visit their website.
Products could be sold at churches, schools, home sales and other venues. The crafts come already marked and ready to go. They just need to put them out, keep track of what they sell and send the unsold items back to the Sharing the Dream store in South Dakota. This could be a one-time thing or several times a year. Sharing the Dream is working hard to create sustainability for their groups. They are working with artisans on design and marketing, and trying to move them towards making their own designs and finding their own markets. This is a long process but they are making huge strides. For more information, please email the group at info@SharingTheDream.org.
Friends of Sharing the Dream is a 501(c)3 organization which accepts donations to be used for projects helping the artisans and their families. A purchase of a beautiful work of art not only provides work for the artisan who made it, but the profits from the sale will go to community projects like the following:
Most of the people involved with Sharing the Dream are volunteers. For more information about Sharing the Dream, please visit their website. For information on a great way to volunteer without ever leaving your hometown, click here. The following excerpt is from a January 26, 2010 article published by The Seattle Times. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. Reuters reports that Starbucks has reduced purchases of Costa Rican coffee this year. Guatemalan growers said in December that Starbucks was slow buying their coffee, too, and some speculated then that the company was angling for lower prices… Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read articles about the Guatemalan Economy. The following excerpt is from a January 26, 2010 article published by The Latin American Herald Tribune. To read the article in its entirety, please click here. GUATEMALA CITY – The Guatemalan government will invest some 1.7 billion quetzales ($203 million) in 2001 [sic] to guarantee the country’s food security, officials said on Tuesday. Several regions of Guatemala, especially the “dry corridor” in the east, were seriously affected in 2009 by a prolonged drought that caused the deaths of at least 54 children and affected 54,000 poor families. The “Guatemala sin Hambre” (Guatemala Without Hunger) program, according to the secretary for Food and Nutritional Security, Lily Caravantes, will be directed by the Social Cohesion Council, presided over by first lady Sandra Torres de Colom. Click here to read the rest of this article, or here to read more about the 2009/10 Food Crisis. To link to the website (in Spanish) of Guatemala sin hambre, click here. |
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Children of the Americas
The Cascade Medical Team (CMT) is a 501 (c) (3) organization headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. Since 2002, in conjunction with its parent organization, HELPS International, as well as PeaceHealth, and McKenzie Willamette Hospital, CMT has provided free medical care to the Mayan people of the highlands of Guatemala.
