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 ASSCA (Social Services Association – German Cooperative) is a non-profit institution that, through scientific cooperation has brought preventive and curative healthcare, along with other forms of development, to the neediest Guatemalan communities. These services have been delivered through the use of human capital and technology.
The vision of ASSCA is to become one of the most important development institutions in Guatemala; to contribute real, tangible support to Guatemalan communities; and to improve the quality of life of Guatemalans.
History: In 1996, a group of Guatemalan professionals met a German engineer, Elmar Stumpf, who was in the country studying Spanish. After a pleasant, lengthy conversation, they decided to collaborate with Mr. Stumpf on a health project for the neediest people living in and around Quetzaltenango. They first formed a general medicine clinic; and as time passed – and more needs were identified – they also created a dental clinic, a laboratory (for blood/cell/tissue testing), psychological office and a pharmacy.
Today, after 14 years of hard work, they continue to explore new projects and look for ways to support the people who need it most. Currently, they have one of the best equipped and staffed medical centers in the region. A high percentage of the patients are from rural areas and/or low-income families.
Services: Among the services they offer are: 2 general medicine clinics, 2 dental clinics, one biological (blood) laboratory, electrocardiograph (EKG), ultrasound, digital prescription, optometry and a pharmacy with high quality and low cost medicine.
This year they have expanded into a new, larger building to accommodate more patients. As mentioned above, ASSCA is a non-profit organization, and is funded through the donations of patients, partner associations and individual donors in Germany. In addition, all those who work for ASSCA in the clinics also make financial contributions in order to best serve the neediest individuals in and around Quetzaltenango.
To learn more about ASSCA, please visit their website (Spanish only).
The following excerpt is from a July 1, 2010 article published by InsideCostaRica.com. To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
GUATEMALA – Guatemalan health authorities issued a red alert and began a drive to reduce the rising number of dengue cases and growing Aedes Aegipty mosquito population reported in the first six months of the year.
As of June 19, official statistics recorded 4,391 confirmed cases, including 98 of the hemorrhagic strain, compared to 1,133 in a similar period in 2009.
Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more about health & safety.
Let’s Be Ready’s mission is to prepare at-risk Guatemalan children for the first-grade by establishing preschools and training preschool and first-grade teachers. Their vision is to break the cycle of poverty in Guatemala by reducing the high rate of drop-out and repetition of children in the first-grade. Their goal is to have 80% of their students successfully complete 6th grade—current national average is 20%. Their schools provide the students with a safe, clean place to play and learn. Parents are involved in the school so as to ensure both the support of their program and the commitment to their child’s on-going education.
Their methodology:
- They identify unemployed teachers who have been trained in the National Curriculum and who have the determination to start their own preschool.
- The teacher forms a partnership with a community who needs and wants a preschool.
- The community is required to provide the building for the school and the teacher must recruit parents willing to participate and volunteer.
- The teacher must also agree to be a demonstration school (i.e., they must share ideas and resources with other nearby schools) and they must agree to be accredited by the Department of Education.
- They find a sponsor to provide the teacher with financial support to cover their salary, training, equipment, materials and the cost of operating the school room.
- The teacher must attend their annual teacher-training program before opening their school.
- They require student attendance of 90%.
- They require 100% parent participation in school meetings and functions.
- The students’ readiness for the first-grade is assessed at the end of the year and the students are tracked through the completion of the 3rd grade.
Their teaching training program:
- They invite preschool and first-grade teachers from public and private schools in the communities in which they have established preschools to observe their classrooms.
- They require all of their preschool teachers to undertake a three-week teacher-training program before the beginning of each school year
- They also provide their teachers with mentoring throughout the school year.
Currently, Let’s Be Ready runs preschools in the following communities:
- San Pedro Las Huertas
- Colonia Hermano Pedro de Santa Ana
- San Juan del Obispo
- San Miguel Escobar
- San Juan Alotenango
- Santa Maria de Jesus
- Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- Aldea San Antonio de Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- Aldea El Rosario de Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- San Pablo La Laguna
- Chuisec
- Pacoj
- Tierra Colorado
- La Pila
Volunteers: They accept bilingual preschool teachers for assignments of at least 3 weeks and help them set up their lodging.
To learn more about Let’s Be Ready, please visit their website.
 The mission of Miguel Angel Asturias Academy is to improve living standards in Guatemala by creating informed, critically thinking, socially conscious citizens, empowered to live lives of their choosing and engaged as leaders in their communities. In a country where schooling means rote learning, overcrowding, and lack of access to reliable information, the Asturias Academy is dedicated to making education a vehicle for personal freedom and social justice. They strive to bring their transformative model first and foremost to children from the most vulnerable sectors of society, placing special emphasis upon poor, female, and indigenous children.
It is the vision of Asturias Academy to be the model and the vehicle through which Guatemala’s education system is transformed so that all children:
- have access to a quality, culturally relevant education;
- lead dignified lives; and
- engage the social, economic, and political problems confronting their communities and country.
Miguel Angel Asturias Academy is not just a school—it is a social movement that is transforming Guatemala. Academy founders, teachers, students and parents are actively working to build a better world—one where human rights are respected, families are financially secure, and children look forward to a hopeful future. They are a non-profit school that opened in 1994 to address Guatemala’s educational crisis. Located in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, the Academy serves more than 250 students from preschool to 12th grade, placing special emphasis on creating options for poor, female, and indigenous children. Roughly 300 Preschool-12th grade students study at the Academy. Their students are boys and girls, indigenous and non-indigenous, poor, working class and middle class. Approximately one-third receive a full or partial scholarship—a number that they would like to increase as time goes on.
Historically, indigenous people within Guatemala have been deeply discriminated against. This discrimination has ranged from bias against Mayan languages, to unfair hiring practices, to massacres in indigenous villages. The Asturias Academy is a school committed to justice, where all students can come to learn whether they are indigenous or not. They are one of few schools that actively promotes equality amongst their indigenous and non-indigenous students. They give their students the option of wearing traditional Mayan clothing as their uniform. They teach K’iche, an indigenous language, as part of their curriculum. They have cultural exchange days where students can share their culture with each other. In addition, they incorporate practices into their school day that promote equality. The daily classroom greeting their students use is in three languages: Spanish, K’iche and English. Through these different strategies they work towards a society where all Guatemalans are able to live in harmony.
To learn more about Asturias Academy, please visit their website.
 Last September, we published a profile of a great organization called Water Charity. Now, we would like to update you with Water Charity’s most current projects in Guatemala:
Coxjac School Latrine Project: This is a project to construct three latrines for a school system in rural Guatemala. The process will also incorporate lessons involving the environment and waste management, hygiene and sanitation, and construction techniques and teamwork. The project is being carried out in Coxjac, Totonicapan, Guatemala, under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Casey Kittredge.
The latrines will be used by three groups of students who use the school (elementary, middle school and a weekend middle school program) for a total of 240 students and 12 teachers. The current bathrooms have been deemed unsanitary by the Department of Health due to their proximity to the area where the atol, the morning snack, is prepared for the elementary students.
La Cruz Water Project: This project is to build a 1200 liter rainwater catchment tank, with an accompanying hand washing station, at an elementary school in La Cruz, Cajola, Quetzaltenango. The tank will hold a 2-week supply of water for the 285 students that attend the school. The Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta has little access to water, consisting of a small chorro that receives water once a week for an hour. The young students currently bring water in 2-liter bottles from their homes or the local stream to school in order to sustain the water supply.
Water Charity is pleased to be participating with other NGOs in this project, and their funds will go for skilled labor and materials. The community and parents from the school are contributing additional labor, and will maintain the tank and pipes upon completion.
Santa Apolonia Composting Latrines Project: This is a project to build composting latrines in Santa Apolonia, Chimaltenango. It is being carried out under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Ellen Ostrow. In the municipality of Santa Apolonia, Ellen works with two rural agricultural communities, Chuaparal—an indigenous population—and Cojulya—a primarily Ladino population. Over half of the 47 families in the two groups do not have latrines. For those that do, the latrines, which often serve for more than one family, are in poor condition and do little to aid fecal control.
The communities are plagued by chronic diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases. The groups have requested a community latrine project, which will benefit a combined 300 men, women, and children.
Ellen is part of the Rural Home Preventive Health project, Peace Corps Guatemala. Volunteers are partnered with local health centers in various municipalities. Each health center reports to departmental level health centers which then report to the ministry of health.
Julio Verne School Project of Melanie Reda: Melanie Reda is a Peace Corps Volunteer, working in Aldea Saquiya, Municipio of Patzún, Chimaltenango. She is undertaking a project to construct a water deposit, and install eight faucets and three flushable toilets at the Julio Verne Elementary School.
Kristen Petros’s Water Tank Project: Kristen Petros is a Peace Corps Volunteer living near Patulup, El Quiche’. The local elementary school has 65 students, from pre-primary through sixth grade. The school receives no water during daytime hours. Water is needed for drinking, food preparation, hand washing, and cleaning.
Katie Bovitz, Volunteer in Paraje El Zapote: Katie Bovitz is a Peace Corps Volunteer, serving in Paraje El Zapote, Pachilip in the Municipality of Joyabaj, Department of Quiche. She is serving under a 9 month extension to her original Peace Corps commitment of two years. Katie will be leaving Guatemala in April, and asked if Water Charity could fund a last project she wanted to do before she left. After reviewing her proposal, they committed to the project, within her timetable. They told her to start acquiring the materials, as the funds are on their way.
In 2008, Katie raised money to build a two-room elementary schoolhouse in the village of El Zapote. The school is currently under construction and is scheduled to be finished by the end of April. She needed the funds for the latrines and hand washing station for the school.
Lenny’s “Pilas” Project: Peace Corps Volunteer Lenny Van Boven, serving in Chicocox, Quiche Guatemala is leading a project, involving extensive community participation, to provide sinks for use by 86 people.
Ventilated Latrines for the Village Of Chuisac: Katie McKenna, a Peace Corp volunteer, contacted Water Charity with a wonderful project in which she would work together with the villagers themselves and a local NGO with which she had previously partnered. In short, Water Charity decided to fund the building of latrines for the entire village of Chuisac in Chimaltenango. The project will be done in stages, with the first 20% already in motion.
Sonte School Project: The community of Sonte is located next to the major road running north through Alta Verapaz. It is easily accessible, and close to a major city. It is very poor and consists mostly of peasant farmers. A hand washing station will be built at the elementary school of the community. This project will be carried out by the teachers of the school and Peace Corps volunteer Dave Bowker, working together with community and local government. The school has recently received electricity, which will be used to power the pump.
Corozal School Project: Corozal is a small rural village in Alta Verapaz that is surrounded by tropical jungle. There is no electricity available, but the community does have a system of pipes that delivers water to about 50% of the houses and the school from a nearby spring. The project is to build a hand washing station for the school. It will consist of 8 faucets, sufficient to support the school’s growing population. All pipes inside the cement and running to the faucets will be galvanized steel and the cement itself will be reinforced with rebar, making the project very durable.
To learn more about Water Charity, please visit their website.
Iowa MOST is a Rotary District 6000 initiative, which provides surgical repair for cleft lip and palate to individuals living in the western highlands of Guatemala. Without Iowa MOST, they would not be given this opportunity. District 6000 Rotarians have cultivated a strong collaborative partnership with their friends in the Rotary Club of Huehuetenango, Guatemala to carry out the mission.
IOWA MOST FACTS:
- The first surgical mission took place in February/March of 2006.
- The mission team consisted of 26 medical and non-medical personnel from the U.S. and 2 Guatemalan doctors.
- The MOST team performed cleft lip repairs, myringotomies, ear tube placements, fistula repairs, a frenulectomy, and tooth extractions, and began a database of patients for the next mission.
- Equipment and supplies were generously donated for the mission from many sources and with the help of FAMSCO.
- Mission equipment and supplies valued at $20,000 were donated to the Hospital Nacional in Huehuetenango.
- Iowa MOST now serves two communities in Guatemala–Huehuetenango and Quetzaltenango.
- In 2010, Iowa MOST performed its 5th mission in Guatemala with its Rotary parners in Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela.
To learn more about Iowa MOST, please visit their website or blog.
 El Nahual Community Center was founded in 2004 in order to address shortcomings in the Guatemalan national education system, particularly in Quetzaltenango and its surrounding communities. El Nahual is located on the outskirts of Quetzaltenango in a sector called Pacajá. This location, which straddles urban and rural areas, was chosen to allow El Nahual to serve as a hub of support for the often marginalized communities outside the city center.
El Nahual is a fully licensed non-profit organization funded by its Spanish language school. They are unique in that they require the individuals who choose to study with them to donate their time to volunteer in the low-income communities they serve. Their volunteers often take classes in the mornings and then get involved in their service projects, the bulk of which involve helping out with their educational programs for children and adults:
- Manos de Colores Niños: Their programs for children, “Manos de Colores” (Colored Hands), founded in 2004, provide instruction in English, art, music, theater, and others—subjects which most children would not otherwise receive in the Guatemalan public school system. Manos de Colores was created by their director, Jaime, after a long period of reflection on the national reality of education in Guatemala.
- Manos de Colores Adultos (Accelerated Primary School): The Accelerated Primary School Program was formed in 2006 to provide adults who never had the opportunity to complete their elementary education with a government-certified primary school diploma. Every Saturday at 8am, the El Nahual Community Center opens its doors to people who come to study Spanish, mathematics, and history taught by Guatemalan teachers. The program is provided at a very low cost and takes two years to complete.
- Padrinos de Colores: is a scholarship program for children, providing financial support to families in need of school registration fees, uniforms, books, required medical visits, and other fees associated with public school inscription. In a country where many people attend school for only three years out of the required six and dropping out to help support one´s family is common, El Nahual Padrinos believe that lack of money for small items such as notebooks and gym shoes should not keep a child from attending school.
Studying with El Nahual
El Nahual Community Center seeks enthusiastic students and volunteers who are motivated to give back to low-income communities in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala´s second largest city. They attract students from all over the world who want to do something meaningful during their travels. Their center is unique in that 100% of the profits from their language school return directly to the communities they serve through their educational programs for children and adults. To that end, they expect a minimum time commitment of volunteer work 4 hours per week from each of their students. The majority of their volunteer projects is educational and involves teaching basic English, arts and crafts, and doing other activities with children in their Manos de Colores programs. Studying Spanish at El Nahual provides students with invaluable international teaching experience while introducing them to grassroots development work and the opportunity to reach out to some of the poorest communities in Quetzaltenango.
Volunteer-only Program
El Nahual is almost entirely staffed by volunteers from Guatemala and abroad. Without the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of their volunteers, their organization could not survive. The work of their volunteers is directly responsible for El Nahual´s continued growth and impact on the communities they serve, and they value the contributions of their staff and volunteers in an atmosphere which fosters creativity, innovation and mutual respect. They are pleased to accept applications for their volunteer-only program for those individuals who want to get involved with El Nahual but do not wish to take Spanish lessons.
For more information about El Nahual, please visit their website.
 The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) helps individuals and communities get affordable and environmentally sound access to electricity, sanitation and clean water. Through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach, they help people get technology that will better their health and improve their lives.
Many rural communities and urban shantytowns in developing countries do not have public services, such as energy, sanitation and clean water. The residents of these communities also tend to lack access to the capital and training that would let them solve these problems themselves. Due to scarce government resources, they often must rely on help from aid organizations or resort to poorly constructed stop gaps.
AIDG believes that in order to develop affordable services for underserved communities, local enterprises need to be fostered and supported. Small renewable energy, sanitation, water, and other innovative firms need financing and training to build the power systems, schools, toilets, water systems, biomass, agricultural processing, communications and other forms of infrastructure that can change the basic standard of living for people currently living in poverty.
The goal of AIDG’s Business Incubation Program is to create independent locally-owned enterprises that can serve the needs of impoverished communities using appropriate technology. Currently the program focuses on business creation in the following arenas: Energy, Water and Sanitation. Future arenas under consideration include Communications, Housing, Transportation and Agricultural Processing.
The AIDG provides each incubated business with:
- Training
- Seed Capital
- Technical and logical support
- Equipment and material procurement
- Aid in business planning
- A 2-year incubation commitment
- Access to a talented base of international volunteers and interns
- Program Model
They operate the Business Incubation Program through five steps: Talent and Opportunity Identification, Investment Lending, Tools and Equipment Provision, Training and Research and Contracted Services.
Talent and Opportunity Identification Starting in 2008, AIDG began conducting business plan competitions in Guatemala and Haiti to identify entrepreneurs for the Business Incubation program. Teams with the most promising business ideas receive 2 to 3 years’ worth of training, in-kind equipment and material donations, an initial start-up grant to help them incorporate their enterprise and begin early operations, and access to low-interest loans ranging in size from $10,000 to $100,000 (median $50,000).
Investment Lending AIDG’s business financing takes the form of grants and low-interest loans. Loan amounts which can range from $10,000 to $100,000, depend on the enterprise’s scale and scope. They offer a very favorable fixed interest rate ranging from 0% to 5% for most of their loans. The loans have very generous repayment terms and schedules to accommodate the enterprises they support, which operate in difficult market environments. Since their goal is enterprise success and not fund return, loans made by AIDG are intentionally below market rate.
Tools and Equipment Provision Most of the enterprises that they aim to incubate require some level of specialized equipment (e.g. foundries, milling machines, computer aided circuit design software). Depending on an enterprises needs, AIDG may provide an additional equipment donation of $2,000 to $25,000 of either purchased or donated equipment to help the enterprise get itself on its feet.
Training and Research Their training involves direct mentor pairing between members of their internship program and member of the enterprise. To date this has revolved around skills assessment and skill building exercises in both technical and business realms, ranging anywhere from electronics to accounting. They are in the process of developing a standardized training curriculum for each skill set. Additionally, they are working with teams of experienced professionals who can come to the field for shorter terms and give very specific skills based training to augment the intern mentorships. AIDG also acts as a research and development arm for their incubated enterprises working to solve individual technical challenges based on customer feedback and ideas about product improvement.
Contracted Services Much of AIDG’s outreach work is done by contracting their incubated enterprises to perform infrastructure projects in local communities. This provides real world environments to train the business team as the enterprise is getting started. It also builds awareness of AIDG’s work and programs in the region and serves direct charitable purposes for schools, daycares, orphanages and other community organizations. During the 2 to 3 year incubation period, their incubated businesses are responsible for implementation and product delivery while AIDG acts as project manager and monitors project quality on contracted work. Outside of this period, the businesses do both project management and execution.
To learn more about AIDG’s work, please visit their website, or blog.
 The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP) is a partnership between North American & Guatemalan Rotary clubs and the non-profit organization Cooperative for Education (CoEd). This initiative provides badly-needed textbooks, library materials, and computer labs to underprivileged children in Guatemala.
The Project has been supported by over 300 Rotary Clubs. Since 1996, the textbook program has been brought to many impoverished rural communities. There are over 31,990 students using textbooks at 170 schools. The GLP has also founded 30 self-funding computer centers and 39 school libraries. The project already serves 10% of the country’s neediest secondary schools and is working with the goal of ensuring that no child in Guatemala grows up without the gift of both traditional and technological literacy.
The Guatemala Literacy Project matches Rotary clubs in North America with needy schools in Guatemala. These clubs raise funds to purchase textbooks, library materials and/or computers. Contributions typically range from $1,000 to $5,000. 100% of funds collected go to the hard costs of the project. Not a cent goes to administration or fundraising.
The project is implemented jointly by North American and Guatemalan Rotary clubs & districts and the Cooperative for Education (CoEd).
Textbooks
This program brings vital textbooks to impoverished Guatemalan middle school children. Studies show that the use of books in the classroom improves grades by up to 30% and comprehension, retention, and interest in subject matter by over 70%. These books, printed in Spanish, are in the core subjects of math, science, Spanish and social studies.
Computer Centers
Guatemala has a 25% unemployment rate for unskilled labor. There are simply too many unskilled people and not enough land or jobs to support them. Yet, on the other hand, there are significant opportunities for those who have skills, especially computer skills. According to a study by the Interamerican Development Bank, computer technology imported into Guatemala in recent years has grown by over 500%. In addition, 80% of mid-level jobs require computer skills.
Most schoolchildren in the impoverished rural areas of Guatemala have never had access to technology. Thus they continue to fall behind their urban peers. Their program seeks to bridge this divide by creating computer centers within underprivileged schools.
Mini-Libraries
One of the contributing factors to the low literacy rate in Guatemala is the lack of available reading materials. Most rural children have never read a book. By setting up mini-libraries within schools, books that capture children’s imagination and encourage reading are made available, as well as reference and teaching materials that enhance classroom learning. This is a highly collaborative program: Teachers at each recipient school work with library experts to form a list of needed materials along with a concrete plan of how they’ll be used. This ensures that all library materials will directly improve the education level at the school.
Self-Sufficiency Component
The most innovative aspect of these projects is that they are financially self-sufficient. Rental programs are set up in each school in which students pay the school a small fee to use a set of textbooks and/or the computer centers. This creates a fund for replacing the books and computers as they wear out.
To learn more about this program, please visit the website. To view a list of Guatemalan schools currently served by GLP, please click here.
 Asociación Centro de Estudios de Español Pop Wuj (pronounced “pope-woo”), set in Highland Guatemala, is a collectively owned and operated Spanish language school that has been serving an international crowd of students since our immersion program began in 1992.
Through a unique mix of intensive language study and social service projects, students come to a better understanding of the political, social, and cultural realities of Guatemala, while contributing to a better way of life for families in the rural areas surrounding Quetzaltenango. Working side by side with their teachers and community members, students have found themselves moved and inspired by their experiences here at Pop Wuj both in the classroom and in the community environments.
Centro Pop Wuj is a cooperative, wholly owned by the teaching staff. After the teachers draw a modest wage and take care of expenses, the remaining income is dedicated to financing the thriving rural development projects and educational endeavors that the school has undertaken and nurtured over the past ten years.
Most important among these projects is Pop Wuj’s scholarship program for local youths. Once wholly endowed by our student’s tuition, the scholarships are now subsidized by private donations from previous students. Through these contributions, Pop Wuj currently provides critical financial assistance to over 80 Guatemalan students. Many of our scholarship recipients are from rural areas where associated education costs would prohibit the completion of their education.
The Pop Wuj school also maintains a close, working relationship with Pop Wuj Medical Clinic. To find out more about the school, please visit their website.
Here are a couple of photos that demonstrate the work of Pop Wuj:
 
Founded in 1997 by Dr. Chuck Dietzen, Timmy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of Indianapolis, Indiana that channels resources to sustainable health projects in developing countries. Partnering with established NGOs in Ecuador and Guatemala, the Timmy Foundation sends a group of volunteers every two-three months to perform medical relief in underserved areas. Additionally, the Timmy Foundation sends monetary support for their partner organizations to grow their outreach to the poor.
Utilizing the charisma of college students, The Timmy Foundation has developed its volunteer base at eight universities around the United States. The Timmy Foundation also advocates and provides financial support for sister programs in Columbia, Nigeria and Jamaica.
Their vision is simple: The people they serve have the ability to live healthy lives and have the promise of healthy futures. The Timmy Foundation focuses on depth over breadth. They understand that one time short-term efforts do not provide last changes, but sustained efforts that focus on aid AND empowerment can. By focusing on empowering those they serve, they ensure that their health is also seen as their responsibility and that their service is the catalyst that promotes healthy living.
The Timmy Foundation currently sends a group of volunteers every few months to the Pop Wuj Clinic in Quetzaltenango (Xela) to offer medical relief at the clinic and its surrounding villages. Additionally, The Timmy Foundation sends monetary support for their partners at Pop Wuj to maintain the year-round efforts to increase outreach to the rural poor in the Highlands.
The Timmy Foundation consistently seeks physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and pharmacists interested in traveling with its volunteer teams on medical brigades to both Ecuador and Guatemala. They would certainly appreciate your interest and help.
To learn more about the Foundation, please visit their website.
For 10 days in July, a group representing the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota works with local Episcopal partners, Padre Dr. Roberto and the members of San Marcos Parish (St. Mark’s) in Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala.
The team provides basic medical and dental care and leaves money with Padre Roberto (a physician) for follow-up testing and treatment of more difficult situations. On a recent trip they found a baby with a loud heart murmur. The child was further evaluated and found to have a life threatening congenital heart problem. He had successful heart surgery and on our last visit was a healthy, happy, growing child. Financial assistance from the mission team made the survival of this miracle baby possible.
For more information about this group, please visit their website.
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