Link for Health

Strengthening Guatemalan families through reproductive health.

WINGS’ Mission is to create opportunities for Guatemalan families to improve their lives by providing them with family planning education and access to reproductive health services.  WINGS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  All donations are tax-deductible in the United States.

WINGS’ Programs:  To address this need, WINGS implements a range of programs, which provide the following services:

• Subsidies for short- and long-term family planning methods for men and women who cannot afford them;
• Reproductive health and family planning education for men, women and adolescents;
• Cervical cancer screening and treatment;
• Advocacy to improve public health services;
• Training for other organizations on reproductive health and program development.

WINGS’ History:  WINGS was founded in 1999 by Sue Patterson, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer who lives in Guatemala.  Sue was inspired to create WINGS when a friend called asking for financial help to provide seven women, each of whom had at least eight children, with voluntary tubal ligations.  Moved by the women’s desire to take charge of their reproductive lives and better provide for their existing children, Sue solicited donations from her friends.  Surprised by their generous response, which amounted to over $4,000 in donations from the initial plea, Sue established WINGS in order to continue helping Guatemalans plan their families. 

Over 80% of WINGS’ revenues go directly to their programs.  Here are some of the ways that their donations are put to use:

• $15 covers the cost of a tubal ligation;
• $25 protects a woman from unwanted pregnancies for up to 5 years using Jadelle, a reversible implant;
• $50 provides all educational materials to train 10 men in reproductive health and family planning through our WINGS for Men program;
• $100 trains a youth peer educator to provide sexual and reproductive health information to adolescents in the community;
• $250 provides a year’s worth of protection from unwanted pregnancies for 95 couples;
• $500 provides cervical cancer detection and treatment for 35 women.

To learn more about WINGS, please visit their website.