|
With our activities we aim to:
-
Improve Health
-
Empower Communities
-
Reduce Poverty
-
Overcome Barriers
To that end:
-
We develop sustainable health programs for rural Guatemalan communities;
-
We provide a sustainable infrastructure that enables impoverished Guatemalans to access quality medical and surgical care;
-
We provide screening and treatment for cervical cancer prevention;
-
We work to build trust in the health care community among rural Mayans;
-
We promote community participation in health care activities.
-
We support communities with trained local leaders;
-
We empower youth to help their communities through rural radio programs;
-
We break down barriers by showing testimonials, videos, etc. and empowering people to make decisions about their own health.
Collaborators
We collaborate with different social and economic layers of the Guatemalan society, as well as the Public and Private sectors and international organizations:
-
We help rural communities to help themselves. To that end, we have trained a network of “local community managers”: local leaders who help us with all our activities on a volunteer basis. Also, we have developed additional projects to involve rural youth in our health care activities. In addition, our requirement that most patients make at least a small, symbolic contribution to their surgery can be seen as a first step towards a reality where Mayans, who have a long history of oppression, take responsibility for their own life and health;
-
We support local organizational development. To that end, we have stimulated the founding of two independent Guatemalan non profits.
-
We seek collaboration with existing Guatemalan private foundations to foster a culture of philanthropy and volunteerism and to make Guatemala less dependent on foreign funds;
-
We seek collaboration with the Guatemalan government, local as well as national level;
-
We collaborate with international volunteer surgical teams and with foreign organizations such as the US Peace Corps
|
