Description:

Partner for Surgery is on the front lines of medical and surgical care in rural Guatemala, helping impoverished Guatemalans living in remote locations. Tens of thousands of Guatemalan children and their families have received medical attention and health education, and more than 8,000 people have received access to surgery, since Partner for Surgery was founded in 2001.

Our staff is present year-round in Guatemala, building trust locally. From our Guatemalan Health Promoters, to our network of Rural Midwives, to our medical teams in the field or at our surgical facility, we bridge the language, distance, and cultural barriers, making each patient’s long trip from their village and back home again a safe one.

Mobile medical missions

The need is growing – word continues to spread about Partner for Surgery. We are the only ones who do what we do – bring volunteer medical triage and surgical teams to poor rural communities where medical care is so desperately needed. Some members of our small, hard working Guatemalan staff personally escort the medical professionals to the areas where they are needed, and translate from English to Spanish to the dozens of languages spoken among the indigenous people. But what sets us apart is our network of Health Promoters.

Because most Guatemalans in the areas we serve have never received medical care and are afraid of hospitals, our first order of business is to build trust. The Health Promoters accomplish this because they live in the villages, among the people we serve, and inform and educate them about the services we offer. By the time a mission comes their way, patients know they can trust us and are anxious to be seen and helped.

Several times a year, we organize and lead a one-week Medical Triage Mission to a Guatemalan rural area. Usually, 2-4 volunteer medical professionals (doctors and nurses) from North America evaluate approximately 1000 patients. The doctors conduct examinations, educate patients about their health options, and typically identify a couple hundred surgical candidates. Doctors and nurses who serve return year after year. They tell us helping these grateful people reminds them why they entered the medical field.
The Health Promoters also participate in the Medical Triage Missions by helping with translation, social-economic study and scheduling of the patients referred for surgery.

Organizational Base: McLean, Virginia

Other Programs: Surgical Care (medical team screens patients)