This project, run jointly by the Anacortes (Washington) Rotary Club and Club Rotario de la Asunción of Guatemala, began in the early 1990’s and provides year-round dental service to very poor Queqchi Mayan people living in remote areas of eastern Guatemala. Volunteers serve for a minimum of ten days (although the group prefers a longer period because of the great distance to travel from Guatemala City), spending one day at the base clinic; and four days traveling to surrounding areas – setting up in local health centers, schools, churches and homes. The goal is to increase dental health knowledge and provide basic exams, fillings, extractions, and restorations. The program emphasizes a school-based program, but still includes many adults in their outreach.
Volunteers should speak English or Spanish. The volunteer must pay their own travel expenses and hotels in transit. Once at the project, their housing and basic food is provided (volunteers live in a house at the Catholic mission, San Antonio of Padua, 20 KM north of Rio Dulce), as is assistance in coordinating licenses with government and making visa arrangements.
For more information, please visit the project website page. For details about volunteering, please contact Dr. Von and Betty Kuehn, vonbetty@comcast.net, or 360/293-6006.
Agape in Action, Inc. is a tax exempt, nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity organization with headquarters located just outside of Houston, Texas. They conduct rural medical clinics in impoverished areas of the Quiché region. Clinics are held in churches, schools, and on occasion, in an actual medical facility, or where the need arises. Their mission is to care for physical ailments and to go beyond the stethoscope to minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of the indigenous Maya in the mountainous Quiché province of the Central Highlands of Guatemala.
They accomplish this by working in close cooperation with local medical officials and hospital facilities. They support pastors in rural areas with medical clinics in their churches, as well as join with other missionaries to reach deep into remote areas to hold medical clinics and show the Jesus Film. Their dorm serves as a facility where they host visiting medical missionary teams that provide surgical care to those who would otherwise go without treatment. They provide training and experience for visiting medical students from the United States and financially support deserving Guatemalan students in medical and nursing schools.
Agape in Action hosts medical and surgery teams from the U. S. who volunteer their time and expertise to perform surgeries at Santa Elena National Hospital, as well as help conduct rural clinics in surrounding towns.
Agape in Action has grown to be accepted as a vital part of the local Santa Cruz community. To a large degree this is because they are closely identified with their partners who are local pastors, educators, medical professionals and other missionaries all working together. Mission teams from the United States have returned over many years and forged relationships that remain strong. They invest and work hard in the community because they are most effective when they combine their talents with those of others who deeply care.
Work has been completed on the expansion of the Agape in Action dorm facility which added over 1,600 square feet of living space, comprised of 4 additional bedrooms, 2 living room areas and 4 new bathrooms. This addition is designed as dual purpose, as it can be used as either 2 separate apartment units or as additional dorm rooms for teams. The current facility can accommodate 24 individuals which will increase to 40 after the expansion is complete. A covered carport has also been added.
They ship medical supplies to their Quiché facility for their mission needs as well as donate supplies and equipment to the Santa Elena National Hospital and other health care providers.
To learn more about Agape in Action, please visit their website.
Boca Costa Medical Mission is a group of medical clinics, maintained and staffed by medical missionaries that serve the Indigenous people of Southwestern Guatemala. The team has been working in Guatemala since 2003. The base clinic, in the village of Paquila, in the department of Sololá, is about 1 ½ hours south of Quetzaltenango and about 2 ½ hours west of Guatemala City.
The clinic in Paquila is open every Thursday and Friday. A new clinic in Xojola is open two days each month starting 2009. The other clinic locations are open when they host medical teams. The clinics draw from some 45 small villages. The population is indigenous Mayan. The primary language is Quiche although Spanish is also spoken.
The area, Boca Costa de Solola, is one of the poorest areas of Guatemala. It has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in Guatemala. The climate is warm, with coffee and banana trees, sugar cane, corn and rubber trees. It is one of the neediest and the most beautiful places you haven’t yet fallen in love with.
They welcome Medical Teams to the Boca Costa. The experience that the teams have is worth the effort. There are areas in need of medical care that the team cannot get to because there are only two of them and the need is so great. Most teams come for one week. They try to pick two villages that they haven’t been to recently and have the team work in one of the villages for 3 days and the other 2 days.
The minimum size needed to come as a team is one doctor and two/three support people. It is good if at least one of the support people has some medical background. The ideal team is two/three doctors and a total team of ten or less. The clinics are very basic and they would expect to see about 30-40 people per doctor per day. The villages where they go mostly speak Quiche. They hire translators for Quiche/Spanish at no cost to the teams. Any Spanish/English translators will be paid for by the visiting team. Boca Costa do the advertising and the setup (with your help) for the clinics.
For more information about Boca Costa, please see their website.
