Description:

ODIM aims to provide high quality, culturally competent, affordable primary health care to the indigenous populations of San Juan and San Pablo. The providers include bilingual Spanish/Tzutijil speaking nurses and a physician local to the community. The two clinics in San Juan and San Pablo La Laguna were built with the hands, hearts, and financial contributions of volunteers. Combined these clinics provide a total of 9,500 patient visits each year.

Patients pay a nominal fee (about $3.3), though no one is turned away based on ability to pay. The majority of funding, medicines, and supplies comes from North American donors.

Our clinical services are designed around the expressed needs of the communities.

Primary care

The majority of visits are patients seeking general consult for an illness. Leading health concerns are peptic ulcers, diabetes, intestinal parasites, arthritis, and urinary tract infections. Our staff combines education and prevention counseling along with evidence based remedies for treatment.

Diabetes

As one of the leading health issues among our patients, we have developed a clinic/community program that combines education, outreach, and patient management for diabetes. Health promoters meet with diabetic patients prior to consult to test glucose and review diet and exercise. The health providers then counsel patients and adjust medications, as needed.

Well Child Care

In a culture where care is typically only sought when one is infirmed, we are promoting preventive and wellness visits. Our well child exams address the developmental milestones of children from birth to age 18. We have partnered with a local organization that provides scholarships to 1000 children to provide annual well child exams. In these exams, we are finding chronic malnutrition, bullying.

Prenatal Care

Our trained nurse midwife serves XX pregnant women a year. We are equipped with a portable ultrasound machine and basic laboratory tests to monitor a pregnant woman’s progress. She collaborates with other local traditional midwives to assure that deliveries are conducted by trained birth attendants.

Bach Flowers

We provide this treatment for emotional issues such as anxiety and depression by combining taking diluted flower tinctures with counseling. The nurse who provides this service makes referrals to local mental health providers, as needed.

Pharmacy

Both clinics have a pharmacy stocked with about 180 different medications, primarily sourced from North America. Onsite pharmacies with medications that are including in the general consult price making treatments options accessible.

Laboratory

Both clinics offer simple laboratory tests of blood, urine, and feces. However, referrals must be makes for complex blood analysis and ultrasounds, often delaying diagnosis and treatment.

Short term volunteers

ODIM welcomes visiting doctors and health care professionals (with current license) to work with us. Our staff and patients have benefitted greatly from the knowledge, interaction, relationships and care that has been shared by foreign physicians, nurse practitioners and other trained medical professionals with a desire to serve.

Most of our volunteers come as part of teams who stay in Guatemala for seven to ten days. ODIM works with two different types of volunteer teams:

- Medical Teams: Comprised mainly of medical professionals who spend five days operating "Jornadas Medicas" or health services, in our clinics in San Juan and San Pablo. Every person with medical skills is welcome to come and work alongside or train our medical staff. Individuals without medical skills who come with a medical team can support the medical team in other ways.

- Construction Teams: Our construction volunteer teams work in the village of San Pablo La Laguna to build and repair houses for families in need. The work can be physically challenging, especially due to the elevation (Lake Atitlan is at 5,125 feet) and the heat of the Guatemalan sun. However, there are jobs for people of all physical abilities. Volunteer teams work alongside a local crew of construction workers contracted by ODIM and family members of the home being built. The local workers oversee the project and provide instruction to the volunteers to ensure everyone’s safety.

All of our volunteer teams will have opportunities to learn about and be immersed in the local Maya culture of our communities.

Organizational Base: Dallas, Texas

Other Programs: Health Education, Dental Care, Scholarship Programs, Construction