We’re in Northeastern Guatemala, about 2 1/2 hours outside of Guatemala City, in a poor desert region (see map). For the last couple of years there has been a drought, which has only added to the chronic malnutrition. Maternal mortality is already the third highest in this region. And mortality rates for children under five are high as well. Vitamin A deficiency (14-19%), anemia (38%), stunting (54%), underweight (18%), are all at serious levels.

On top of these overwhelming odds, the government allocates very little funding to healthcare which means that faith-based groups have their work cut out for them. Vitamin Angels is happy be partnering Faith In Practice through our Thrive To Five program. Presently, Faith In Practice is the second largest health care provider in Guatemala, they have been operating for 18 years, and serve about 17,000 people per year.

Watching Faith In Practice in action is like watching a mobile hospital or a MASH unit suddenly set up and run a complete medical facility (with Ob-Gyn, Pediatrics, General Medicine, Dentistry, and referrals) in less than an hour and then proceed to process (full triage in affect) 450 patients over one long day. Pretty impressive.

Some of the women had walked for 2 1/2 hours to get to the clinic (they were drawing people from 5 villages). And then they waited in lines for hours as this is the only medical care they have available. The team handed out hundreds of bottles of prenatal multivitamins (a big thank you to all of the contributors who make donations from Andrew Lessman and ProCaps Labs possible). And of course, many bottles of children’s multivitamins (we need more! – please contact Amy Steets at Vitamin Angels, 805 564 8400).

The children, mothers and fathers were all so glad to see us. This is what 'reaching the unreachable' looks like, going to the most remote villages where no one else is going, and providing help that would otherwise not be available. Doing this work is a gift.

*Our Thrive to Five multivitamin projects provide a high volume of doses (1,095,000 in this case) per woman/child. While our project in Guatemala is small at present, we are always seeking to expand our reach, if you are interested in making a gift in kind donation to support our programs (Thrive To Five or Operation 20/20) please contact Amy Steets (asteets@vitaminangels.org or 805.564.8400).