Profile: Clinica Comunitaria Daniel Comboni

The Clinica Comunitaria Daniel Comboni (Daniel Comboni Community Clinic) located in Mixco, Guatemala, provides health, dental, and educational services. The clinic reaches out to the large population of indigenous people living in poverty and extreme poverty in Mixco by offering health and dental services for a nominal fee. Education and nutrition programs provide the people with the information they need to stay healthy and happy and to live more peacefully.

The Clinica Comunitaria D. Comboni began because the people in the area were aware of the need for health services and missionaries were able to answer that need. The clinic serves to provide complete health care, educational programs, and human services to the most needy families and individuals in the surrounding area. The clinic also assists in other corporal and social works of mercy, including the education of children and development of families.

Following the commandment of Jesus to “love one another as I have loved you,” the clinic serves the people with the greatest needs in health, education, and other social areas.

To learn more about the clinic, please visit their website.

Profile: Common Hope

Common Hope black_heart

 

Common Hope creates opportunities so that impoverished children and families can improve their own lives.  The heart of Common Hope’s work in Guatemala is education. They provide the necessary resources for over 2,700 children to attend school each year in seventeen villages outside of Antigua and Guatemala City.  Common Hope understands that education is about more than books and uniforms – a comprehensive approach is critical to help students and their families to reach their full potential.   For this reason they also focus their efforts on health care, housing, and family development.

 

Education

Common Hope helps students attend primary and secondary school, vocational school, and university.  They also provide academic tutoring, special education, job placement services, a day care, and emotional support through youth groups.   

Health Care
Common Hope provides basic health care, preventive health care, dental care, prenatal education, a pharmacy, nutrition programs, lab and x-ray services, community health fairs, and emergency care. 

Housing
Though Common Hope, families can earn a house that is clean, dry, and safe by working sweat-equity hours.  In addition, families can work to earn a stove, latrine, cement floor, and utilities such as water, drainage, and electricity. 

Family Development
Each family affiliated with Common Hope develops a long-term, individualized relationship with a Common Hope social worker, with whom they identify obstacles and set goals to create change in their lives.  Families also have the opportunity to receive counseling and parenting education, and to attend support groups including Al-Anon.

More Info

To find out more about Common Hope, please visit their website and blog.  Common Hope is also active on Facebook and Twitter.