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Below is a brief outline of what we are doing
and who we are working with:
(Click on hyperlink for details of projects
and costs)
Projects in Guatemala:
Senahu Maternal and Child
Nutrition Project (NARU):
Senahu, Alta Verapaz region: This project has been initiated to relieve the avoidable causes of
disease and deaths due to malnutrition. Incaparina, a
food supplement replete with protein, iron,
vitamins and minerals, is provided to pregnant women,
lactating mothers, and children at high risk,
(post breast feeding to school age). Hundreds of cases
of severe infant and child malnutrition exist among the 133 Senahu communities.
At a cost of less than $1.00 per
child per week they could have a dramatically increased
chance of surviving and maintaining normal growth.
Currently, with limited resources, only a few villages are
being served. Surrounding villages have requested and
are waiting for the service. This project was
founded and supported by the Madison Medical Clinic in
Idaho. This is an excellent project for
medical clinics to adopt. (Go to
Physicians for Villagers
)
Yvonne Sinclair, a
resident of Guatemala, is the founder and director of the
project. World Link's role is linking of resources and assisting in the disbursement of
funding.
Women's Literacy Project:
There are
25 Mayan dialects spoken in Guatemala, plus Spanish and
English. The
purpose of this project is to teach K'echi women
Spanish. (Men have requested and are also have their
own classes.) Spanish is virtually a necessity for isolated
villagers who wish to market goods, and study or work
outside of the K'echi speaking community. The project,
which is in conjunction with CHOICE Humanitarian, was
initiated in the villages of Sekok and Sajonte in the Polochic area at
the request of the villagers. World Link, in
conjunction with the Director of CHOICE, plans to expand the
project to other villages. World Link provides the
funding for the teachers, the village provides the
school/building, and the Guatemalan government provides
the school supplies.
WINGS
(Women’s International Network for Guatemalan
Solutions), focuses on women’s health issues.
Wings provides knowledge, financial resources and access for
impoverished Guatemalans enabling them to plan their
families, and improve their quality of life. World Links
role with WINGS is to provide health and management
consultation, and procurement of funding. WINGS
recently (10/07) received the award as the best humanitarian
organization currently working in Guatemala.
Mayan Families Projects
is
an NGO founded by Sharon Smart-Poage and Patricia Mort, who
have been living and working in Guatemala for the past 20
years. Their focus includes both individual and
village support in education, (student sponsorship ), emergency relief,
construction of homes, small business development and micro
credit loans. The geographical area they serve is the
villages surrounding Lake Atitlan, primarily San Jorge La
Laguna and Tierra Linda.
Vamos Adelante:
Vamos
Adlante provides education, health and nutrition services to
poor people in over 23 villages in the region of Esquintla,
Guatemala. Currently they provide scholarships for
1,200 students, have adult literacy projects, and
provide regular food distribution for the elderly. The
foundation also runs a computer school for the disabled in
Guatemala City. Nina Jorgensen founded and manages the
foundation.
Emergency Medical Evacuation:
The
purpose of this project is to provide emergency medical
evacuation to isolated Mayan villagers. The majority
of Mayan villages in Guatemala are located from one to
several hours from a medical care facility with virtually no
access to medical transport. This project
establishes and provides funding for emergency
transportation to a health care facility. It establishes a
emergency fund, identifies a driver with a vehicle, and
provides training for a villager to administer emergency
medical care and prepare the patient for transport.
Organizations
we are working with:
Note: We work with both not-for-profit organizations,
(NGO's), and
individual volunteer project directors, who live and
work
on-site.
Senahu Nutrition Project NARU
This project was born through the determination of one
woman, Yvonne Sinclair. Yvonne, a native of the
British Isles, and at
the request of a friend, visited the Senahu area four years
ago. Upon seeing the conditions, she committed her
life and resources to working on behalf of the people. Her
focus is health and sanitation. She has developed and
manages the maternal/child nutrition project. She is
expanding into basic health education and family planning.
The village of San Nicolas and other villages are in
desperate need of potable water. Yvonne is currently
seeking resources for the development of gravity fed wells.
Procurement of land ownership and sustainable agriculture
are also priorities.
CHOICE Humanitarian
focuses on community development and
utilize hands-on volunteers working in conjunction with the
local villagers. They provide resources primarily for
the construction of schools, clinics, water systems, stoves,
and education and health. CHOICE is currently working
in six countries world wide. World Link role is to
provide funding, and monitor and evaluation for the
women's literacy project and the emergency medical
evacuation project.
WINGS:
(Women’s International Network for Guatemalan
Solutions), focuses on women’s health issues.
Wings provides knowledge, financial resources and access for
impoverished Guatemalans enabling them to plan their
families, and improve their quality of life. World Links
role with WINGS is to provide health and management
consultation, and procurement of funding.
Mayan Families
is
an NGO founded by Sharon Smart-Poage and Patricia Mort, who
have been living and working in Guatemala for the past 20
years. They work in education (school scholarships,
school construction, training), micro credit,
individual and family financial grants. For the
past two years World Link has accepted and disbursed
donations for their projects.
Vamos
Adelante
Foundation
provides
education, health and nutrition services to poor people in
over 23 villages in the region of Esquintia. Currently
there are no other development agencies working in this
geographical area. To address these issues, Vamos
Adelante has established schools and health facilities in
several villages and has recruited local education and
health care promoters to work with families on improving
education, health, hygiene and nutrition.
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