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Profile: Emmaus Medical Mission

In 2001, a small group of doctors, nurses and volunteers traveled on the first medical mission to Sumpango, a small village in Guatemala, Central America. Their mission then and now is to provide quality medical care, medicines and vitamins free of charge for humanitarian purposes and further enhance goodwill of the United States in Latin America.

After providing free medical care, medicines and vitamins at no cost to well over a thousand needy patients, the medical team felt compelled and committed to return thereafter every 6 months to treat the needy people of Guatemala.

In May 2006, the Emmaus Medical Mission group decided to expand their medical care to other villages in San Pedro, another village in Guatemala. With a group size totaling over 110 (including 40 doctors, 20 nurses & 50 volunteers), their group was able to treat free of charge over 8,000 patients in both towns simultaneously, while providing them with a substantial amount of free medicine and vitamins.

By 2008, the medical mission has taken on the official name: Emmaus Medical Mission. The mission has gown in size to 80 to 100 volunteers per mission with an active roster of over 2,000 rotating doctors, dentist, pharmacists and volunteers. Presently, the Emmaus Medical Mission has a proven track record of successfully treating thousands of patients, complementing their treatment with free medicine and vitamins. Doctors, nurses and volunteers are willing to donate their time and services in recognition of their commitment to service mankind.

To date there have been 20 medical missions to Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador, and their physicians and dentists have treated well over 65,000 patients. Their teams have performed numerous medical procedures including, but not limited to: hundreds of surgeries; pathological reviews; gastrointestinal endoscopies; pap smears; dental procedures; and many more specialized medical procedures.

Each mission’s group size consists of approximately 40 doctors & nurses, and 40 to 50 volunteers, to treat 4,000 to 5,000 patients per mission. Patients are offered a broad range of medical services & specialties: Pediatrics, Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Pulmonary, Urology, Infectious Disease, Dermatology, Hematology, Oncology, Dental, General and Maxillofacial Surgery, Podiatry, Psychology, Pharmacy, Chiropractic Services and Registered Nurses.

The most common medical conditions treated are: Malnutrition; Hypertension; Diabetes Mellitus; Pregnancies; Severe Heartburn; Chronic Diarrhea; Dehydration; Parasitic Infestation; Asthma; Allergies; Skin diseases; Syncope; Chronic Lung Infections; and Gastrointestinal tract problems. The most common surgical conditions treated are: Inguinal Hernias; Uterine Fibromas; Cleft Lip & Palate; Breast Masses; and Head/Neck Tumors.

The Emmaus Medical Mission is complemented by voluntary teams comprised of administrative support planning and logistics; triage units; and a pharmacy team. The clinic and each doctor’s have the capacity to deliver patient privacy and effective, field-based healthcare.

Several organizations including Americares, MAP International, and Heart to Heart provide donations for the missions in the forms of medicines, vitamins and supplies at a very low cost. Each mission member traveling as part of the medical mission pays for all expenses and donates their time and services. Furthermore, each member is committed to provide monetary donations; over the counter medicines; vitamins & personal hygiene products through donations.

Their present goal is to expand the mission to other countries, as well as other villages in Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador with increased medical support and patient care; increase the scope and complexity of the medical procedures and increase the amount of free medicine and vitamins to be provided to the needy.

As Emmaus Medical Mission continues to grow and travel to new countries and villages, the need for medical and monetary donations must continue to grow as well. In 2010, five missions are confirmed. With the help of their community and the commitment and dedication of many, Emmaus hopes to carry out these missions with all the supplies and medicine needed to attend to the 25,000 to 30,000 people they anticipate seeing in 2010.

Emmaus Medical Mission is a Catholic based foundation. It is open to, and welcomes doctors, nurses, and volunteers of all religions, beliefs, and all walks of life. This is a medical mission that strives endlessly to provide the most important medicine that many of the forgotten people in the world need…Love. That is the unwavering foundation of their mission…Love & Care for those who are forgotten, one by one.

For more information, please visit their Facebook page or contact Fernando Becerra, Secretary/Treasurer by email, Lfbecerra @ aol.com (remove spaces) or phone (786) 202-0491.

Profile: Curamericas Global, Inc.

Curamericas Global partners with underserved communities to make measurable and sustainable improvements in their health and wellbeing. Since 1983, they have been working to reduce infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in regions that lack basic health services. They also organize short-term volunteer trips to their project sites in Guatemala, Bolivia, Haiti and Liberia, where their local partners are in need of both medical and non-medical volunteers.

Since 2003, Curamericas Global has been working with their local partner organization, Curamericas-Guatemala, to reduce infant and child mortality rates, along with maternal deaths, in rural Mayan communities in the country’s northwest region.

Curamericas-Guatemala’s program is located in the Department of Huehuetenango, a remote area in the mountains frequently called the “Triangle of Death” because it has the highest infant mortality and malnutrition rates in the country. Within their project area, 68% of children under the age of 3 are malnourished and 1 in 250 pregnancies result in death. (In the US the rate is 1 in 12,500).

Curamericas Global’s National Program Director, Dr. Mario Valdez, is the only medical doctor for the more than 66,000 people living this area. Their nurses and community health workers provide basic care, health education and outreach, vaccinations, vitamins, and other vital services to mothers and families, mostly through home visits.

Through Dr. Mario and his staff’s dedication, today almost 90% of the children have received lifesaving vaccinations.

One dream that has become a reality in this region is the Calhuitz Maternity Center (La Casa Materna). The Calhuitz Maternity Center was constructed under the combined efforts of Curamericas international volunteers and local community members. It is a center for childbirth, pre-natal care, and women’s health.

The local traditional birth attendants (called comadronas) are spreading the word about the Center to encourage mothers to utilize the facility. The comadronas will attend births at the Center under the supervision of a medical professional, and both mothers and comadronas will have access to education and support. After only one year in operation, the number of women giving birth in the facility is 30% and all obstetric emergencies have been promptly responded to, with no deaths among mothers or children.

To learn more about Curamericas work in Guatemala, please visit their website.

Profile: Wuqu’ Kawoq

Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Decades of violence, corruption, and racism have stranded much of the population in poverty with uncertain prospects for the future. Although nearly 75% of the population in Guatemala is Mayan, and speaks one of over 20 different indigenous languages, there are no health care or development programs which provide services in these languages.

Wuqu’ Kawoq was founded by a group of development workers partnering with indigenous communities in Guatemala to address this problem. They believe that health and cultural vitality are inseparable from each other. Wuqu’ Kawoq develops first-language health services, with a special focus on primary health care for women, children, and adults with chronic disease. They also support indigenous medical workers, perform research on the state of health in rural Guatemala, disseminate knowledge about traditional health practices, and collaborate with other organizations with similar interests.

Major projects at this time include: child malnutrition prevention and treatment programs; comprehensive women’s health and prenatal care services; primary care for adults with chronic diseases, especially diabetes; development of potable water systems; scale-up of rural health outreach activities; and language revitalization efforts, including the publication of Kaqchikel and K’ichee’ community health resources.

To learn more about Wuqu’ Kawoq, please visit their website.

Upcoming Trip: Gyn & Plastic Surgery

Health for Humanity’s surgical team is preparing for two upcoming surgery trips:

Obras Sociales in Antigua, Nov 6th – 19th: Gyne general and plastic (cleft lip and palate) surgery.
Hospital Hilario Galindo near Retalhuleu: Nov 11th – 18th doing Gyn surgery.

Patients need to be registered with and assessed by the respective hospitals first. Contact information@healthforhumanity.org for more information.

Exchange: Patient Referrals – OB/Gyn & Clefts

Agape in Action is currently accepting patient referrals for OB/Gyn surgery, and Plastic Surgery (clefts). The team will be in Quiche from June 13-17. Please click here for more details.

Profile: Faith in Practice

The mission of Faith In Practice (FIP) is to improve the physical, spiritual, and economic conditions of the poor in Guatemala through short-term surgical, medical and dental mission trips and health-related educational programs. Their mission is based on an ecumenical understanding that as people of God they are called to demonstrate the love and compassion that is an outward sign of God’s presence among us. Faith In Practice’s life-changing medical mission is to minister to the poor, while providing a spiritually enriching experience for their volunteers.

Currently, their medical teams travel to the most remote and poorest parts of Guatemala, setting up makeshift clinics in rural villages. Working side by side Guatemalan volunteers, their medical teams provide general care and make referrals to Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro (The Obras), now a hospital that houses four state-of-the art operating rooms thanks to Faith In Practice supporters, and to four additional smaller hospitals throughout Guatemala. Patients now have a safe and pleasant place to stay at their guesthouse, the Casa de Fe, while awaiting and recovering from surgery in Antigua. Their public health initiative has seen the development of the VIA/Cryo Program designed to train Guatemalans to identify and treat pre-cancerous cervical cells. They are currently developing a Preventative and Restorative Dental Program. Through these programs, their more than 800 dedicated volunteers served more than 17,000 patients in 2008.

FIP Mission Teams (click here to see 2010 calendar of trips):

Surgical Teams: Faith In Practice medical and dental teams travel to Antigua, Guatemala which is the base for all the teams. All teams volunteer their services for a week, usually traveling from the US on a Saturday and returning on the following Saturday. Teams are divided into a group of health providers who work at the hospital in Antigua and a group which travels to sites and villages in the countryside to provide family practice medicine and dentistry.

Medical and dental professionals working at the Hermano Pedro Hospital and Orphanage for the poor bring all the supplies they expect to use for performing surgery and post operative care. On Sunday, all surgery candidates are seen and reviewed; and a surgical schedule is prepared. The remainder of the week is spent in surgery at the hospital.

Village Teams: Family practice teams bring trunks of medicines and supplies as well and in the course of treating acute illnesses in the villages often encounter people who need surgical care. These patients are referred to the surgical teams working at the hospital. Often the teams are met with busloads of people hoping to receive medical help.

Dental Teams: Dental professionals accompany both the surgical teams and the family practice teams. There is a well-equipped dental clinic at the Hermano Pedro Hospital where general dentistry and extractions are performed and oral hygiene instructions given. Dental professionals who accompany the family practice teams to rural sites concentrate their efforts on pain relief (extractions) and oral hygiene instruction.

Professional Relationships: The professional relationships that develop between U.S. medical and dental personnel and Guatemalan professionals is an added positive impact of the work Faith In Practice is doing. Every year, Faith In Practice endeavors to present post-graduate type learning experiences to the Guatemalan medical community in Antigua and in Guatemala City. Topics have included Ear Infections, Cancer Pain Control, Ovarian Cancer, Knee Surgery, and Hip Replacement Surgery. Guatemalan surgeons are also invited to the OR in Antigua to learn the latest surgical techniques. Faith In Practice believes developing mutual learning and understanding makes sustainable change possible.

Cooperative Efforts: Faith In Practice makes concerted efforts to keep in touch with sister organizations who are working to improve the life and health of the poor in Central America. Much of the needed change that goes beyond any one organization’s scope can come about by combining resources, time, knowledge and energy.

To learn more about Faith in Practice, please visit their website, Facebook page, Twitter page, or blog.

Profile: Clinica Maxeña

Clinica Maxeña, in Santo Tomás, provides medical, dental and optical assistance and limited types of surgery. The clinic operation is made up of various projects that receive support from several donor agencies, including the Diocese of Helena, MT. These projects work together to provide excellent care to those who come to Clinica Maxeña and also those encountered during visits to the outlying communities.

Laboratory: There is a Laboratory to assist the doctor and health promoters in diagnosis and treatment, and is staffed by a health promoter who is trained as a technician. The lab tech performs coprology, urinalysis, and tests for tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid fever, venereal diseases, hematology, and pregnancy.

Pharmacy: The Pharmacy sells a limited number of medicines according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Dental Office: The Dental Office has periodic service to the mission community from groups of American dental practitioners who volunteer their time, service and supplies for a period of time at the Mission.

Prenatal Clinics: Prenatal Clinics are held weekly with a midwife-educator, who also operates our clinic in Samayac. She and the midwives who serve the various communities of the area have constant refresher courses with the goal of reducing maternal-infant mortality.

The Medicinal Plant Project: The Medicinal Plant Project includes a demonstration garden with more than 100 varieties of plants that produces seeds and medicines. The coordinator examines patients and prescribes plant-based medicines. The pharmacy at the project produces and sells about 30 medications in the form of tincture, salve, shampoo, soap, and dried plants for teas or compresses. The team also trains promoters in the communities to grow their own plants for medication and treatment.

Community Health Project: The clinic is developing a Community Health Project which will enable communities to build a local health system whereby they can be fairly self sufficient with the option for referrals to the Clinica Maxeña and other health entities. The emphasis in the CHP is on women and children, including teaching and primary care on occasion.

Special Projects: Two very serious endemic health problems in the Boca Costa area in which the clinic is located are tuberculosis and trachoma. There are two projects to identify, treat, reduce or eliminate these diseases that Clinica Maxeña coordinates with the National Health Ministry and the National Committee against Blindness.

To learn more about the clinic, please visit their website (associated with The Diocese of Helena), or read this article.

New Project: The Hope Alliance Midwife Training Program

Guatemala suffers from higher infant and maternal mortality rates than any other country in Latin America and the Caribbean except Haiti. The issue of maternal mortality is one that continues to go unnoticed, despite the devastating toll being taken on women around the world. Every minute, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth; 500,000 women die each year despite the fact that the majority of these deaths could be prevented if women received care from trained providers.

Lack of healthcare access for many women in the rural highlands of Guatemala is of prevalent concern, as is the lack of skilled birth attendants or certified midwifes. In collaboration with their partnering organization, Fundación Raxche and the Ministry of Health in the District of Izabal, The Hope Alliance has agreed to compliment the Ministry’s curriculum and provide training to a pilot group of certified midwives in clean birthing skills.

Issues that are of primary concern to the Ministry of Health and need to be incorporated as part of their training are: neo-natal tetanus, sepsis (both neo-natal and post-partum), cervical cancer, family planning and the use of oxytocin (this can be bought over the counter) to induce early labor leading to complications and hemorrhages resulting in hysterectomy.

In August 2009, The Hope Alliance shipped 5 clinic modules to the hospital T’Zunun Ha in El Estor. This included an OB/GYN module as a means to bridge the gap between the rural skilled birth attendants and the medical professionals at the clinic. The Hope Alliance has 3 training mannequins to assist with their training program: a neo-natal resuscitation doll, an EVA Gynecologic Manikin and Manikin Obstetric.

Their goal in the summer of 2010 will be to make this first team the exploratory team and establish the base line curriculum, needs and training parameters to compliment the Ministry of Health’s midwife training program. Subsequent teams would then have an established curriculum to build upon and emphasize those areas in which the midwives lack knowledge and training. Five communities have been identified for the pilot program and each of those communities has identified 20-25 midwifes. Each community will select their 2 senior midwifes (in knowledge not necessarily age) to participate as part of the training with their teams. At the conclusion of the training, the senior midwives will return to their communities and train the remaining midwives in what they learned.

In 2007, The Hope Alliance sent a small surgical team to address the most common needs and to show their commitment to the communities of El Estor. One of those surgical components was an OB/GYN team. As a result, the group has in place some necessary essentials for surgery including a portable “mash-type” anesthesiology machine.

Since one of their goals is to bridge the gap between the rural skilled birth attendants and the medical professionals at the clinic, they plan to include in their curriculum a training component involving medical professionals. The group also hopes that, by explaining to the rural midwifes what some of the equipment is used for, they may ease some of the fears some of the rural women have of hospitals.

To learn more about The Hope Alliance, please visit their website.

Profile: Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies

In 2006, The Vanderbilt Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) was designated a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education. While maintaining one of the strongest concentrations of Brazilianists of any university in the United States, the Center’s renowned faculty also has particular strengths in Mesoamerican anthropology and archaeology, the study of democracy building and economic development, Latin American literature and languages, and African populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Center fosters a lively research community on campus by sponsoring colloquia, conferences, films, and a speaker series featuring distinguished scholars and government and business leaders. The Center is lead by Drs. Edward Fischer and Avery Dickens de Giron.

CLAS offers undergraduate major and minors and a M.A. degree in Latin American Studies as well as joint graduate degrees with the business school (MBA/MA) and Law School (LLM/MA). Moreover, the Center offers a popular graduate certificate program and administers summer research awards to students across the university carrying out work in Latin America. They are also one of the select graduate programs approved by the Department of Defense for its Foreign Area Officer training.

CLAS is home to a number of major research and outreach projects in Guatemala, including:

Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital / Shalom Foundation Alliance:

2-3 major surgical missions per year to Guatemala
Guatemalan rotations possible for Vanderbilt pediatric interns
In late 2010, opening the Moore Surgery Center in Guatemala City, an innovative “medical timeshare” for mission trips that will involve local medical students as well.

Center for Latin American Studies program in K’iche’ Mayan:

Funding by the U.S. Department of Education to teach Mayan languages
6 week Vanderbilt/University of Chicago Summer Intensive K’iche’ Program held in Nahaula, Guatemala

Biomedical Engineering:

Service-learning course taught by Cynthia Paschal; students work on medical equipment at Moore Surgery Center and other hospitals in Guatemala
Collaboration with engineering students from the Universidad del Valle

Owen School of Management:

Pyramid Project (led by Bart Victor) students develop strategic planning and business models for Primeros Pasos and other projects in Guatemala
In the last module, students came up with an innovative micro-finance mortgage system and tested a new product to combat malnutrition

Midwifery / School of Nursing:

New international component to the midwife program sends students to work with local midwives and Primeros Pasos

Vanderbilt Cancuén Archaeology Project:

Vanderbilt Cancuén Archaeology Park in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
Integrating local development and health projects and eco-tourism opportunities

Alternative Spring Break:

Program going to Primeros Pasos clinic in Guatemala every year since 2005, organized through the Office of Active Citizenship (OAC)

Primeros Pasos / InterAmerican Health Alliance:

Based at Vanderbilt, this successful NGO founded and led by VU medical student Brent Savoie offers preventive pediatric care to over 1000 patients a month in rural areas
Opportunities for service-learning trips, medical student emphasis program
CLAS provides the US-based home at Vanderbilt

Conexión Guatemala:

Organization run by CLAS that brings together over 15 humanitarian mission efforts based in Nashville that focus on Guatemala

Medicine, Health, and Society / CLAS VISAGE Course:

VISAGE year-long course Spring/Summer/Fall 2010
Students will spend 6 weeks in Guatemala over the summer of 2010

Institute for Global Health / PEPFAR:

Alfredo Vergara hopes to develop a PEPFAR project in Guatemala with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Institute for Coffee Studies:

Possibilities for collaborations with ANACAFE (the Coffee producers association)

CLAS reaches thousands in Nashville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region through their various outreach programs to the educational, business, medical, and media communities. They have a vibrant K-12 teacher workshop series marked by high attendance and positive feedback; recent topics have included Andean archaeo-astronomy, the Panama Canal, and the art of Guayasamín. They offer Spanish instruction to their Medical School and at Fisk University. They regularly partner with local arts groups and community organizations to sponsor events. They have pioneered an effort to bring together NGOs, faith-based organizations, and academics working in Guatemala to coordinate efforts. They serve as a national resource through a variety of other programs as well, including cultural competency seminars, a film and lecture series, a classroom speakers’ bureau, and a resource lending library.

To learn more about CLAS, please visit their website. To read about their most recent trip, please click here.

Profile: Hope Alliance

Transforming Critical Need into Sustainable Change

The mission of The Hope Alliance is to empower impoverished people with the skills and tools they need to create positive change in the lives of their families and in their villages. The Hope Alliance also educates and exposes volunteers to the situation of those in developing countries. The Hope Alliance partners with active village groups in developing areas of the world to co-create change in quality of life. Local organizations and villages lead projects that include health worker training, medical care, clean water, sanitation projects, economic opportunity (micro-credit) and education projects.

The Hope Alliance assists communities in development, not relief, although it plays an extremely important role in saving lives, it is only temporary and is not sustainable. The communities to whom we offer our help are not necessarily victims of natural or civil catastrophes; they are people who can maintain a subsistence level of living. This means that they have just enough to get by but lack the resources and education to get out of perpetual poverty. Development is simply teaching them the skills they need to help themselves and linking them to resources necessary to progress. We want to make sure that our projects have a measurable, proven positive impact on communities.

“Unless we partner directly with the villagers to empower themselves and create active village participation, even though intentions are good, we will end up with empty medical clinics, empty schools and broken water systems” -Dr. John Hanrahan, Co-founder, The Hope Alliance

Supply Shipments: The Hope Alliance continues to support project areas with shipments of medical supplies and equipment specific to each countries needs and capacity. Our most recent container, which shipped in July of 2009, included five clinic modules for the Hospital T’Zunun Ha in Guatemala. Communities in Peru, Ghana, Vanuatu, Haiti and Ethiopia have also received Hope Alliance shipments of medicine, medical supplies, food and school supplies in years past.

Education Fund: The Hope Alliance administrates the Atitlan Education Resource for Opportunity, or the AERO Fund designated for the youth in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. It is their fervent hope that this financial resource can grow and become the mechanism by which many talented and ambitious young folks, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to gain an education or training in a trade or craft, can become successful and contributing members of their society.

Construction Expeditions: The Hope Alliance has strong ties to local Rotary Club and Rotary International, a service organization that works to combat hunger, improve health, sanitation, and education. World Community Service projects is one avenue that promotes collaboration with partnering countries to work on sustainable projects, such as the Biogas digester program in Nepal that transforms waste into a reusable resource for that community. Or the Aguajal Trancayacu project in Tarapoto, Peru that promotes reforestation, restoration and management of the Aguaje.

Medical Expeditions: While the medical clinics conducted by The Hope Alliance have been successful, they have been the catalyst to open the doors to the communities where sustainable projects within the communities have been developed. Under the direction of the Ministries of Health, medical and nurse practitioners along with student volunteers assist local healthcare providers address health issues facing rural villages. Past teams have included Surgical teams that support local hospitals and work collaboratively with local physicians to teach current surgery techniques. Health education teams address the long-term need in local education and preventable illnesses.

Dental Expeditions: Dental hygiene is a growing concern for both young and old alike. Most expeditions focus on extractions instead of restorative work and also on education and improving their diet.

Micro-Credit: This program provides economic opportunity to individuals so they can pull themselves out of poverty. At the same time, creating a more vibrant economic atmosphere and increased market activity which benefits the entire community. The micro-loans provide access to capital and also provide business enterprise training. The Hope Alliance micro-credit programs are in Iquitos, Peru and El Estor, Guatemala.

Vision Pilot Program: The vision pilot program has been designed to complement the World Health Organizations Vision 2020 initiative; the right to sight initiative aimed at prevention and treatment of vision loss through successful interventions and treating preventable impairments, in order to have the greatest possible impact on vision loss worldwide. Village Health workers are trained to identify preventable illnesses and refer individuals to the most appropriate resources available for that area.

To learn more about Hope Alliance, please visit their website.

Profile: Project Concern International/Casa Materna

Project Concern International (PCI) is a non-profit health and humanitarian aid organization dedicated to preventing disease, improving community health, and promoting sustainable development.

PCI began working in Guatemala in 1974, bringing basic health care to Mayan communities around Lake Atitlan. Throughout the 1980s, during the civil war that ravaged Guatemala, PCI trained an extensive network of volunteers and local leaders to deliver health services to families in need. Building on three decades of experience, PCI/Guatemala continues to work with rural communities to improve the lives of vulnerable populations, with a focus on women of reproductive age and children.

Specifically, in 2000, in partnership with a local association of midwives, PCI/Guatemala established the Casa Materna (Mother’s House), an integrated reproductive and maternal health program aimed at reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in the western and central highlands of the country. Casa Materna provides integrated reproductive and maternal and child health care, outreach, and education services, including outpatient clinical services, a pediatric clinic and a 20-bed inpatient facility for women with high-risk pregnancies. Casa Materna is reaching 8,000 women each year with obstetric services, critical care services for maternity patients, family planning services, child nutrition classes, and sanitation trainings.

PCI has also successfully implemented numerous projects in the country designed to increase commercialization opportunities, diversify agricultural practices and improve the health and nutritional status of vulnerable communities.

For more information about PCI, please visit their website, Facebook or Twitter pages.

Profile: Pan en la Boca

Pan En La Boca is a not-for-profit corporation that was organized to help provide necessities and services to the people of Latin America who live in poverty. It is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Through its recent endeavors, various groups in Guatemala have received food, clothing, medical care and housing. All of the people who currently belong to the organization are volunteers and 100% of contributions are used to fund the group’s service projects. All contributions are tax deductible.

The group currently partners with and supports Safe Homes for Children, a 501(c)(3) that supports an orphanage called Casa de Sion, in Los Robles near Panajachel. In their most recent volunteer trip, they helped build a new orphanage on the 17 acres of land that Safe Homes for Children bought a couple of years ago. They also built furniture for the orphanage and made their bodega usable. Construction of birthing rooms and a health clinic began in early 2010 through the generosity of Ralph and Sue Severson who donated $2500 which will pay for the birthing rooms and Gary Syman who donated $15,000 for the clinic. The clinic and birthing rooms are also being built on the land owned by Safe Homes for Children and will service both the children at the orphanage and the people of the community.

The groups’ latest project, assembling newborn kits including blankets, diapers and booties, has been chronicled in this article, published by The Danville Weekly. To learn more about Pan en la Boca, please visit their website.

Profile: Safe Homes for Children

Safe Homes for Children is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation set up to support Casa de Sion, an orphanage in Los Robles near Panajachel. On 17 acres of farmland, they have a 2500 sq. ft. building that is used for their orphanage. They take street children as well as children whose parents cannot afford to feed or clothe them. Their goal is to nurse these wounded children to physical, psychological and spiritual health. They attend church and are enrolled in school. They would like to give these children an opportunity to succeed in life.

In addition to the orphanage, they work with individuals in the community. They offer a lunch program three days a week to the 75 elementary school children next door. After lunch, those children study with a teacher provided by Safe Homes for 3 hours. The group also offers student scholarships for children in the community who would not be able to go to school otherwise.

They have a formula program for 30 infants and an Incaparina program for 275 children. They have many more children that want and need to be on their feeding program, but they had to limit it because of finances. Recently, they broke ground on a medical clinic with birthing rooms, which will serve the resident children, and the community. Safe Homes partners with an American NGO, Pan en la Boca.

To learn more about this group, please visit their website.

Profile: Project C.U.R.E.

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.

PROCURE: PROJECT C.U.R.E. collects donations of new and overstock medical supplies and working equipment from medical manufacturers, wholesale suppliers, hospitals and clinics. PROJECT C.U.R.E. volunteers sort supplies and test equipment in preparation for delivery to hospitals and clinics around the world.
CORPS: PROJECT C.U.R.E.’s CORPS involves volunteer individuals and groups in the local “hands-on” mission of changing their world. There is no such thing as “just a volunteer” at PROJECT C.U.R.E.
CARGO: Through its CARGO container projects, PROJECT C.U.R.E. delivers donated medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics in countries around the world. Containers are approximately the size of a semi-truck trailer. An average CARGO container provides approximately $400,000 (wholesale) in donated medical equipment and supplies.
KITS: C.U.R.E. KITS are specially prepared boxes containing essential medical supplies and instruments to be carried as luggage on an international flight. C.U.R.E. KITS are designed to meet the needs for short-term medical missions abroad and can be shipped directly to the traveler’s home.
Kits for Kids: An exciting, educational and hands-on project for community groups, students, and families to get involved in Project C.U.R.E.’s mission of “Delivering Health and Hope to the World,” C.U.R.E. Kits for Kids provide home healthcare supplies to parents of children ages zero to 15.
CLINICS: Through C.U.R.E. CLINICS, groups of volunteer medical professionals travel internationally to PROJECT C.U.R.E. recipient sites where they assist in-country doctors and nurses in providing medical services to people in need. From November 27 – December 10, 2010, Project C.U.R.E. will send a medical team to Clinica San Juanerita, located in San Juan La Laguna, Solola District. The local sponsors request that the team work side by side with the local doctor and nurse practitioner and provide health instruction to the community. The team will also travel across Lake Atitlan to El Hospitalito in Santiago for several days to provide general patient care.

To learn more about PROJECT C.U.R.E., please visit their website.

Profile: Cascade Medical Team

cmtlogo 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.

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.

Profile: WINGS

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.

Profile: Health for Humanity

Health for Humanity is a Canadian-based volunteer organization that provides quality medical care, equipment and supplies to the poor of Guatemala and other developing countries. Health for Humanity currently sends multidisciplinary teams of volunteer health care professionals to Guatemala and the Philippines. In addition to the surgical program, Health for Humanity works with local NGOs in Guatemala to support various other health care initiatives. All donations are used to pay for hospital costs, medical equipment, medications and operating room supplies. They have no paid staff and minimal administrative costs. Volunteers pay for their own travel and accommodation.

Their first surgical mission spent 2 weeks in Guatemala in November 2002 and since then they have sent five more surgical teams to Guatemala. More recently, they have also sent two surgical teams to the Philippines. Their teams have now completed more than a 1,000 surgeries and supplied much needed equipment to the hospitals they work in. They work in cooperation with local healthcare professionals and provide education when they can. In addition, they have provided immunization services to the residents and staff of the hospital in Guatemala.

Health for Humanity will:

Organize multidisciplinary teams of volunteer healthcare professionals and support staff to travel to developing countries to provide needed healthcare services.
Collect the funds, medical equipment and supplies to provide these services and arrange their transport to developing countries.
Provide surgical services at hospitals in developing countries in collaboration with the local hospital staff.
Provide funding and other support to their partner NGOs in the countries they visit.
Empower the people and healthcare workers of the countries they visit to meet their own healthcare needs through education and training.
Work in collaboration with the local Canadian Embassy Staff, Governmental, other non-governmental organizations and the local healthcare community to identify other healthcare projects for which Health for Humanity volunteers can provide assistance.
Remain non-political.
Interact with clients in a respectful and non-judgmental manner.

Health for Humanity’s next trip to Guatemala will take place from November 7 – November 21. To learn more about the group, please visit their website.

Profile: Hospitalito Atitlán

Hospitalito Atitlán (HA) is a small, private, non-profit hospital serving a population of 43,000 Tz’utujil Maya on the southern shore of beautiful Lake Atitlán. Local physicians, nursing, and administrative staff work closely in collaboration with volunteer medical personnel from around the world to provide a comprehensive scope of care, including the only 24/7 emergency and surgical obstetrical care within a 2-hour radius. The hospital is supported financially by Amigos Hospitalito Atitlan, a U.S. nonprofit corporation formed to provide financial, material and human resources in support of subsidized healthcare services in rural Guatemala.

More than 60 percent of the patients speak only Tz’utujil, the local Mayan dialect. Hospitalito staff translates Tz’tujil to Spanish for medical volunteers. HA has gone to great lengths to make services affordable to everyone. Social Workers are available to evaluate the resources of the patient and family and provide up to a 100% discount for those with limited resources.

General clinics are held in the three clinic rooms Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to 12:30 and from 2:30 to 5:00/whenever the last patient is seen. The most common conditions seen are listed below.

Adults

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease/COPD (“EPOC”). This is especially common in woman as they spend much of their time over wood fires.
Diabetes – Type 2
Hypertension
Gastritis/GERD (often H. pylori positive)
Intestinal Parasites (ascaris, giardia, and entomoeba histolytica are endemic)
Pneumonia
Cellulitis and Abscesses
Non-tropical (due to altitude) infectious diseases

Children

Colds
Otitis Media
Asthma
Bronchiolitis
Acute diarrhea with/without dehydration
Intestinal Parasites (ascaris, giardia, and entomoeba histolytica are endemic)
Dermatological Conditions
Malnutrition (replacement of healthy foods with soda and junk food)

Prenatal Clinics

Pre-existing/Gestational Diabetes
Grand multips
Pre-eclampsia
Need for slow prim-ip inductions

Emergency Room and Inpatients (some services are staff-dependent):

EKG
Defibrillation
Nebulization
Suturing
Intubation (for transfer, they do not have a ventilator)
Lumbar Puncture
Paracentesis/Thoracentisis/Chest Tubes
Vaginal deliveries, with suction and forceps if required
Fetal Monitoring
Ultrasound
Induction with Misoprostol or Pitocin
Magnesium infusion
Umbilical artery/vein catheterization
Cesarean section
Dilation and curettage
Tubal ligation
Hysterectomy
Fibroidectomy
Cystocele repair, bladder suspension

Education

Fundación K’aslimaal believes that education of staff and the community is an important part of their work. Administration or the department of Social Work organizes these events. Since HA opened in 2005, the staff has been involved in the monthly training that the traditional midwives are required to attend by the Health Department. When a Spanish speaking medical volunteer is available with the ability to teach an important lesson to the traditional midwives, their social worker serves as a translator.

Meetings for the mothers and family members of the women in the Maternal Infant Sponsorship program are held every two weeks in the education room. These classes or “charlas” cover important topics such as danger signs during pregnancy, complications during delivery, breastfeeding, when to take your baby to the doctor, early stimulation, babies first foods, importance of books in the home, and more.

Often, medical volunteers set up informal presentations in the patient waiting room area. Staff education can be formal or informal. Often visiting specialists and organizations schedule educational programs for the staff, or specific technical training. Pediatricians and dentists schedule hygiene talks for the children at the school in Panabaj where the Student Sponsorship is centered.

A scholarship program for HA staff exists. Employees are chosen for scholarships on merit of their work experience.

To learn more about this hospital, please visit their website. Very detailed staffing calendars can be accessed here.

Profile: Hospital de la Familia

What started over 30 years ago as a small dispensing pharmacy in Nuevo Progreso is today a year-round medical facility offering general medical, minor surgery, pediatric, obstetrical and dental services. The hospital consists of wards that can accommodate 72 patients.

During the past several years, the hospital has maintained a staff of over 60 full-time employees, including 4 doctors, 12 nurses, and 3 or 4 nurse/nun instructors and a contingent of Guatemalan medical and dental students. The hospital treated over 10,000 patients last year.

In addition, major surgery is provided by the volunteer U.S. surgical teams sent by the Hospital de la Familia Foundation in February, May, August and November for 2-week stays. These teams treat an additional 5,000 patients, performing surgery on 1,600 of them.

Other hospital programs include the Malnutrition Therapy Clinic, the Dental Clinic, Nurse Training Classes, Barefoot Doctor Classes (teaching first aid and disease detection), Adult Education Classes, and Sewing Classes. They also operate grade school with an enrollment of about 150. Tuition, books, and uniforms are free. There is a separate program for adults.

For more information about the hospital, please visit their website.

Profile: ASSADE

The mission of Assade is to provide health services to residents of San Andres Itzapa, and to educate people inside and outside of the clinics in order to prevent diseases and promote health. Their goal is to reach and serve at least 75% of the poorest and most susceptible population, within time frame of three years.

They serve mainly the poorest women and children, but don’t decline their services to anybody who requires it, and cannot afford private services.

ASSADE provides primary health services, nebulization and treatment of emergencies. They treat an average of 500 persons monthly, 60% of whom are children and the rest are mostly women. They only charge a symbolic fee of Q3.00 ($0.30) and provide the medication free of charge or at a very low fee when people can pay. ASSADE is a financially sustainable organization. They also offer psychological attention and carry out medical missions.

In the short term, they plan to implement a dental clinic; and a health, education and nutrition program. To learn more about ASSADE, please visit their website.

Profile: Glens Falls Medical Mission Foundation

The mission of Glens Falls Medical is to develop a sustained effort to work with the people of Nueva Santa Rosa, in southern Guatemala. They provide the local residents with needed health benefits, including both the medical care itself and the tools to empower them to improve their own health care.

The dates for the Fall 2009 Mission are set for October 16-24, 2009. The group typically makes trips in both the Spring and Fall. To find out more about the work of this group, see their website.

Through the years, the project has expanded from a purely medical one, to one that affects many aspects of life in this area. It became obvious to the group that providing only medical care is, quite literally, a band-aid approach to the extensive needs of a community. Therefore, they are involved in many areas, including:

Medical care: As always, this is their first priority. This is done through Triage and specialty clinics. Triage is where patients are first seen, and their medical needs prioritized. Some patients with straight forward issues are screened by their nurses and EMT’s, problems are identified, and they are sent straight to the pharmacy for basic medications. Others are identified as needing care in one of the specialty clinics.

General Medicine. This clinic cares for all adults. They see issues ranging from degenerative joint disease, hypertension and diabetes to undiagnosed cancer. 6 month recalls are provided for those with chronic hypertension or diabetes who depend on Glens Falls’ pharmacy for their medications.
Public Health helps to monitor these individuals between clinics. This clinic needs at least 4 providers: physicians, PA’s, and NP’s.
Women’s Care. This clinic cares for all women of child bearing age and with gyn problems. A major service is providing birth control of various types. At least 3 providers are needed, 4 is optimal. Cooperation with a Guatemalan group called the Liga Contra el Cancer has allowed them to offer pap smears and follow up services as well.
Dentistry. Severe dental caries is rampant in this community. Glens Falls dentists may pull over 1,000 teeth during the 5 day clinic. Lack of equipment, and numbers of patients that need service, limit their ability to do any restorations or fillings. Ideally, they should have 3 dentists, which does not always happen. Fortunately, there are some Guatemalan dentists that often come to donate their time to help. Dental assistants and dental students are also welcome to help in this clinic.
Pediatrics. They see children from birth through age 18. The most common diagnoses they treat are parasites, diarrhea, malnutrition, poor growth, asthma, and trauma. In addition, they see many children with genetic or congenital problems that have not been previously diagnosed. They provide vitamins and parasite treatment for almost all the children they see. Educating the parents on nutrition and development is an important part of improving the health of the children. They accept pediatricians, family practitioners, pediatric nurse practitioners and trained pediatric physician assistants to work in this clinic. They also welcome students in their last months of training.

Allied Health:

Auto refractor. Glens Falls Lions Clubs have donated an auto refractor to the mission. With training, 2 Lions Club members from Nueva Santa Rosa are able to provide glasses to about 800 people. This is a service that was sorely needed in this area, as there was is no eye doctor available at all.
Sealant Clinic. They provide sealants on permanent molars for children 6-15. This hopefully will prevent the severe dental caries so prevalent in the area.

Pharmacy: This is one of their major expenses. They bring a fully stocked pharmacy. It is staffed by at least one pharmacist, two if possible (or a pharmacy aide), and several general volunteers. Drugs come from multiple sources including MAP International, who provides drugs at low costs to medical missions, and other not for profit sources. Some drugs are needed and are not available through these sources and need to be purchased, which tends to be quite expensive.

Education: This is, as one can imagine, a very important part of their mission. Education is offered in several areas. Patient education is provided for individual patients who need instruction about a specific health problem, for instance diabetes care. They have a great deal of literature in Spanish, heavily illustrated for those who can’t read. They have educational videos as well.

Fire Rescue Personnel (“Bomberos”). The local fire rescue personnel help transport emergency cases from the clinic to the hospital. They are highly motivated to help, but poorly trained. For several years, Glens Falls volunteers have given them training sessions in CPR, extraction techniques, fracture immobilization, neonatal care, etc. They use their volunteers who are firemen, nurses, EMT’s, or CPR instructors to do the teaching. In addition, firemen in their area have donated 3 completely outfitted fire trucks to the towns near Nueva Santa Rosa. EMT’s that have come on the mission drove a completely equipped ambulance to the area.
Lay Midwives (“Comadronas”). This group of women provide most of the prenatal care and deliveries in the area. Glens Falls try to improve their knowledge and management of many conditions that they may encounter among pregnant women and newborns. They also try to provide them with basic tools to ensure safe deliveries: BP cuffs, an infant scale, etc. Their main educators and their Women’s clinic personnel do the teaching.
Public Health Doctors & Nurses. Classes are held for Public Health doctors and nurses, teaching neonatal resuscitation, shock stabilization, and other first aid techniques to enable the local population to help themselves.
Health Promoters. Health Promoters attend classes on treating diarrhea, recognizing dehydration in children and some first aid.
Other. A Glens Falls educator is also in charge of arranging referrals to other hospitals or missions for those whom they cannot help in the clinic. They coordinate with Guatemalan physicians and hospitals whenever possible. They are hoping in future missions to coordinate with a Guatemalan group that works in prevention of domestic violence.
Assessing Needs. In order to know where they can make the most impact, they need to understand the local problems. Students from the New Visions in Public Health program in Albany have done surveys of nutritional needs and nutritional inadequacy of the local diets. Soon, they will start a survey of the understanding of the local people about parasites and how to avoid them. Using this information, they hope to be able to better target their teaching programs in this area.

Coordination and Cooperation with Other Groups: Glens Falls cannot serve all of the area’s needs alone. They have the good fortune to be able to cooperate with other Guatemalan and international groups to help extend their care. These include:

Incaparina: This not for profit group is dedicated to improving the nutritional status of families. With the lack of nutrition education among the populace, the dire poverty, and unemployment, children especially suffer from frank malnutrition. This group sells a very cheap nutritional drink, and makes a soy protein product to improve protein intake in an affordable way. They come to each of their clinics to teach principles of good nutrition to the families there.
Liga Contra el Cancer: Their newest association is with this group, who provides a mobile pap smear clinic for women. They are able to follow up on abnormal smears, and provide surgery if necessary. The cost to the mission is about $1500 each clinic. They are very excited about being able to offer this preventive service, as their women’s clinic has seen cases of frank cervical cancer which were too far advanced to treat.
Lions Club: As mentioned, this group has worked with us since they first started. The Guatemalan club arranges their ground transportation, gets their items through customs, stores supplies, and identifies patients for the clinics. In turn, Glens Falls is helping them establish a dental and eye clinic and library in Cuilapa.
Cristo Rey Church: This is the location of their clinic, in the church school classrooms. The padre has been very helpful in allowing us to hold their clinic there for a small donation. They help him serve his parishioners, and have donated books in Spanish to the church school.
Cuilapa Hospital: Located about 40 minutes by bus from the town, this is the only public hospital in the area. They accept acute cases from their clinic. In return, Glens Falls provide medical seminars, and medical supplies and drugs when they are available.
Guatemalan Volunteers: In the years that they have been going to the area, many local people have become their friends, and volunteer at every clinic. Some are translators as well. Native Guatemalans who are doctors or dentists, pharmacists and nurses work with us. American and British citizens who live in Guatemala City come to act as translators. The deep friendships that they have established with these people are one of the main reasons that so many of us keep going back year after year.

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