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More than 90,000 people are expected to receive direct benefits from the Project in 2017.

Medical Clinics
Medical Day Campaigns
    •  Community Medical Day Campaigns
    •  Surgery Campaigns
    •  HPV Treatment Campaigns
Community Pharmacies
Clinical Laboratories
Dental Clinics
Dental Day Campaigns
Primary School Dental Services
   •  Dental Health Education
   •  Fluoride Program
Healthy Habits Program
Health Education Talks
Enviromental Health and Sanitation Program
Vaccinations

Photo Gallery

From a small clinic back in 1995, offering general services to about 200 people a month, there are now 5 medical clinics which this year alone will attend more than 18,000 patients, bringing health to the habitants of communities with limited economic resources in the municipalities of San Pedro Ayampuc, Chinautla, San José del Golfo y zone 18. Each clinic is staffed by a nurse who provides prescreening, maintains patient records and assists with treatment procedures; and a licensed physician who provides professional care. The majority of the patients seen are women and children, and the consults most often seen are respiratory and gastrointestinal problems and preventative ob-gyn visits that include pre/post natal care and pap exams focusing on early detection of cervical cancer. All those who seek care at any of the 5 medical clinics are provided services daily on first come first served basis. Each patient is asked to collaborate with a Q15.00 (US$1.94) contribution toward the actual cost of a basic visit, which amounts to Q42.00 (US$5.42), but as with all of our services no one is denied because of inability to pay. Our clinics are very well known for providing quality care in which humane, dignified and personalized service is given with love.

In carrying out our mission of serving those most in need, we have developed the community medical campaign and health education program which provides the opportunity for medical checkups and treatment in remote communities that have limited access to health care services. Annually over 2000 persons benefit by medical consults in the 7 participating communities. These campaigns include medical check-ups for the entire family, diabetic and pregnancy screening and nutritional status of children through weight and height measurements. When necessary, treatment options, including medicine that is taken to the sites, and referrals for ongoing treatment, are provided. In addition to the direct medical services offered, an important component of this program is the provision of health education by over 40 women community leaders who have been trained and empowered to actively serve within their own communities. Community based health education is provided by these leaders for more than 1100 persons each year. This focus on health education is geared towards providing the knowledge needed to learn to care for and better health and thus provide sustainable improvement in the quality of life in the communities where they live. Along with these ongoing activities and thanks to various professionals who volunteer their time and talents, we also are able to offer periodic specialized medical day campaigns. Services offered have been in accord with the specialty and expertise of the volunteers and have included pediatric, ophthalmologic and otorhinolaryngological exams.

Once a year, in coordination with a volunteer surgical team from Dayton, Ohio, United States, we are able to carry out a surgery campaign. The surgeries are performed in a makeshift surgery suite set up in the parish hall in La Labor and include hernia repairs, cyst and tumor removals, hand and foot surgeries and other minor procedures which otherwise would be unavailable to those in our service area. Over the past several years 100 – 140 low income patients have benefitted each year without cost from this valuable service. Interested patients can receive information about the next campaign at any of the medical clinics.

Noticing the high incidence of HPV in our area and understanding that warts are not only a dermatological problem but also affect esthetics and self-esteem, prompted us to develop an ongoing campaign in which HPV treatments are implemented every 3 months. Follow-up care is done at the clinics and patient education is provided for all those who seek treatment.

Each of the 5 medical clinics include an adjacent community pharmacy where patients both from our clinics and from other areas can obtain high quality basic medications in an accessible manner, thus increasing the possibility that treatment plans will be implemented and illnesses are cured. Recent comparisons have shown that medicines in our pharmacies cost on average 70% less than what they cost in a private pharmacy. Medications for our pharmacies come from a variety of sources including being purchased at a low cost from drug companies here in Guatemala, purchased and/or donated from other non-profit organizations and donations from organizations and individuals outside of Guatemala. Quality attention is provided by pharmacy technicians who are trained and accredited, each one of them having the corresponding license and registration with the Department of Health. Focusing on education, they assure that each patient understands the doses and time frame to properly take their medicine.

To assist the physicians in making a more accurate and reliable diagnosis to develop an appropriate treatment plan, we offer the services of two clinical laboratories, attending more than 9000 persons every year, carrying out over 16,000 exams. The basic tests offered include hematology, stool, urine, VDRL, helicobacter pylori, pregnancy, blood type, glucose level, malaria, total cholesterol, HDL y LDL, urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglycerides, uric acid, ASO y rheumatoid factor, with a cost averaging between Q10.00 and Q30.00 ($1.30 and $3.90) per exam. As with our other clinical services, these laboratories provide a quality, low cost service that would otherwise be unattainable for the people of our area. Patients are attended on a first come, first serve basis and results are given within 3 hours so patients have them readily available and can then go to the medical clinic. The clinical laboratories are attended by a laboratory assistant and 2 registered lab techs who are supervised by a medical technician, offering services that the patients have always reported as very good, expressing their complete satisfaction.

With professional university trained dental staff, along with our advanced technological equipment, our two dental clinics are able to offer high quality services ranging from dental diagnosis to whatever dental treatment is deemed necessary. All of the services offered at our dental clinics seek to improve the quality of oral health and reduce dental problems with a focus on education, prevention and treatments to avoid loss of teeth. Until the first clinic was started over 17 years ago there was little or no dental attention which contributed to such poor oral hygiene that the only intervention utilized was extraction of teeth to eliminate pain. Now annually, more than 2800 patients are able to benefit from low cost dental care in bright and open facilities with modern equipment that matches most clinics found only in Guatemala City.

Volunteer dentists donating their time, skills and equipment allowed us to begin our Dental Day Campaigns many years ago. Now our Project dentists have implemented an ongoing dental outreach program where annually 300 people from communities that are more remote and with greater need benefit from services that include tooth extractions, dental exams and dental health talks on oral hygiene. If a patient requires more extensive treatment than extraction, especially with the possibility of preserving teeth, referrals are made to one of the dental clinics. Each dental day campaign is carried out with the participation of the persons who live in the benefitting community.

Our Mission involves a deep commitment to the children of Guatemala, who are so vulnerable and yet they are the future of this developing country. For this reason we have implemented outreach programs in the 45 primary schools of our area. With the goal of improving the dental health and well-being of the children in our service area we have developed two programs that focus on dental health education and prevention of caries. Comparable studies done at the end of the past few years have shown that by implementing these 2 programs, we have reduced the incidence of dental cavities by 35%. Healthy teeth make for happy kids…their smiles show it all!

Once a year the dental assistant and community health promoters, along with volunteers, visit each school where all of the students participate in a creative educational activity focusing on proper oral hygiene. Each child then receives a kit that contains a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental educational material and in small groups is instructed on proper brushing technique. They are encouraged to take the toothbrushes home and continue to use them on a daily basis. Every year we teach more than 12,000 students how to properly brush their teeth and care for their oral hygiene. In addition, each year 3 – 5 student volunteers from the Maria De Mattias Secondary School carry out community service as they actively participate in this program, providing youthful enthusiasm as they develop leadership skills.

Studies done by the National Guatemalan University Dental Program have shown that the use of fluoride by school age children can reduce new cavities by up to 60%. Since none of the communities in our service area have fluorinated water systems and there are communities in our area that do not have access to potable water, we have implemented a fluoride program in 20 schools, positively impacting the dental health of more than 5500 students. At the beginning of the school year, teachers are trained in the administration of the fluoride solution swishes that students receive on a weekly basis. Once a month one of the dental assistants visits each participating school to provide supervision, give the fluoride swishes and leave the fluoride solution for the teachers to use until the next visit. All schools that participate in the fluoride program sign a contract at the beginning of the year confirming their commitment to carry out the program on a weekly basis for the whole school year. This helps to insure that the children will receive the maximum benefit of the program.

The goal of this program is to improve the overall health and well-being of children and the communities where they live, through health education, instruction about proper hygiene and promotion of healthy habits and self-care. The program is carried out in three public primary schools and consists of didactic information, creative activities and interactive participation of 800 students along with their teaching staff, women in charge of school snacks, their parents and family members and the people of the community where the school is located. At each school there is a Health Educator who coordinates and guides the processes and although the program initiates in the school, community participation is essential for real changes to be made in life style habits. Implementing this program in a creative and dynamic manner over the past few years has helped encourage the formation and development of good habits for health promotion and the betterment of the quality of life for these young students, their families and the communities where they live. The community focus of this program has helped to ensure a greater impact as whole families participate in the activities and therefore promote and practice the healthy habits learned. All of the activities have their focus based on the following themes: personal hygiene and healthy environments, healthy nutrition and habits of mental health and recreation. Some of the activities include hygiene routines in the school, making and use of hygiene kits, height and weight control, health fairs, internal and external de-parasiting, school and community clean up days, nutritional workshops, cultural and recreational excursions and the implementation of teaching modules centered around the practice of healthy habits.

Awareness among the adult population in active self-health promotion is important for empowering communities and promoting positive change. With this objective in mind our paramedical personnel under the direction of the medical staff implemented health education talks in different communities. The topics included women's health, child nutrition, HIV/AIDS and caring for common health problems in the home. Over the past few years participation and interest has been positive and so now community leaders participate in an ongoing training program and they continue to carry out this valuable program to help the women solve their own problems and improve the quality of life for their families. Education has become an important complement, as well, to the curative services provided and therefore ongoing health education sessions are offered at the medical clinics, dental clinics, laboratories and every other month at the dental campaigns.

In the medical clinics operated by the Sangre de Cristo Health Care Project, over 50% of the reported illnesses have poor sanitation as their origin. This familial and communitarian problem is extensive due to the underlying factors which contribute to the overall poor quality of life, such as lack of proper housing, water, electricity, sewage systems, garbage disposal, communication, as well as indiscriminate use of chemical insecticides and deforestation. In addition to this high incidence of disease which affects largely the women and children in our area, we have also observed and been alarmed by the increased contamination of the environment, which everyday becomes more critical. This is most notable in the resettlement areas that are experiencing a rapid growth in population without the necessary growth in infrastructure that would provide the essential services for a dignified life.

With the certainty that a healthy environment forms part of well-being and integrated health, the Sangre de Cristo Health Care Project has been carrying out for 16 years the Environmental Health and Sanitation Program, focused on the protection, conservation and recovery of ecology and the environment so we that can live in harmony with nature and with one another. We facilitate the implementation of actions in 55 communities, centered in the areas of education and environmental consciousness, waste management and recycling in schools, formation and training of community leaders, basic services using appropriate technology, community ecological activities and informational campaign about the impacts of mining activities. Activities include implementation of appropriate technology including the installation of 60 dry organic fertilizer latrines, clean air wood stoves and water cisterns. The reforestation program plants more than 70000 trees annually and we do drinking water analysis in 14 communities, coupled with providing assistance to local organizations in order to take corrective measures. With the aim of demonstrating to the families that there are ways to improve the quality of life even with limited resources, a model garden has been developed. And the implementation of an eight-month educational program for community leaders trains more than 40 Environmental Health Promoters each year who then join the network of local leaders. These leaders have shared information and skills in their own communities, thus increasing the positive impact of the Project. Each year 13,400 students participate in ecological talks and 5 schools have developed a recycling program under the guidance of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Team. Since 2011, the Program has provided leadership and accompaniment in local communities impacted by mining activities and our team has been an active participant in the nonviolent resistance movement against mining activities.

Starting in January, 2006, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Program has been implemented by Ecotono Global, under the continued leadership of Antonio Reyes Romero. This implementation model helps provide for better results and promote greater benefits in the environment that impacts the whole community.

As a developing country where over 80% of the population lives in poverty, Guatemala has one of the highest rates of infant mortality. Most of these deaths are caused by preventable diseases. For this reason the vaccination program has been an important part of our services from 1996 until 2011, when the government health service suspended the acquisition of the vaccines. For over 15 years, twice weekly a trained nurse with the assistance of the Health Promoters traveled to different rural communities where they met with the mothers to promote the use of vaccinations and give the vaccinations to children under five years of age, as well as to pregnant women. These vaccinations included BCG against tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella and tetanus and up till 2011 were received from the government health service and we provided them free of charge so that no person is denied this very important protection. Records were kept for each child and mothers were instructed in the importance of maintaining the proper schedule along with safety factors to assist in preventing infectious disease. Our hope is that in this year changes within the Guatemalan Ministry of Health will facilitate the means so that once again our patients will be able to receive this invaluable service.