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CASA GUATEMALA
FRIENDS OF CASA GUATEMALA CLINIC TRUST
Scottish Charity number SCO 20445
Casa Guatemala is an orphanage which caters mainly for children who have been abandoned or orphaned since the civil war in Guatemala. It was set up in 1986 in the Eastern rain-forest area of Guatemala, on land given by the local community in return for a medical service. The intention was to resettle children who could not be either reunited with their families, or placed in alternative families. The area in which they were to be resettled is not accessible except by boat, and is not very heavily populated. What population there is consists of Native American (Ketchi) people, themselves largely disrupted and resettled from other parts.
A clinic was built in the grounds as the basis for the medical care of the 80 or so children at the orphanage, but it was not staffed until HELEN MINNIS, a young doctor from East Kilbride, went to work there as a volunteer for a year in 1991. She found herself not merely working in the orphanage, but doing considerable work with the indigenous population as well, as the nearest doctor was in Rivas, some hours away by boat. One of her main aims was to work with with volunteers from the villages, helping them to learn about basic health care. This was particularly important as there was cholera in the area, and a real fear that it could become endemic, so work on digging latrines, etc, and finding safe supplies of water, was really important.
When she left the Rio Dulce, we set up a charity in Glasgow to send out volunteer doctors from the United Kingdom to the area, raising funds to pay their passages and insurance and sending medicines for them to use while they were there. This continued to four years, by which time the doctors that went out had begun to work with a small local Guatemalan charity. This charity eventually found a young Guatemalan doctor willing to work in the rain forest area, who spoke the local language and agreed to continue training the Health Promoters. We agreed to fund him, to continue funding the Health Promoters` programme and to pay for a nurse. Medicines can now be obtained in Guatemala, so we send money for that as well.
The effects of the civil war in Guatemala are still evident, there are still children living on the streets in Guatemala City and being killed there. While the orphanage has developed its own means of funding and relies on volunteers to care for the children, our Trust makes sure that they have ongoing medical care. The charity we work with, Asociation Rescate, has links with volunteer dentists who go out there either in their retirement or their holidays and they also provide basic schooling for all the local children. Our Health Promoters, working in their villages, have been an important resource at times of devastation caused by hurricanes in the area.
None of the money we receive goes on administrative costs, and each contribution we receive is worth ten times as much in Guatemala.
Useful Links
: Orphanage/Official Website
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