After six months of planning, we returned to Santiago for another week with the children, teachers and families of the schools of David Lamotte, Puerta Abierta, Chu'ul and Panul. We had a number of goals for this trip: to see the school children and provide dental screening, fluoride varnish, anemia screening and anti-parasite medication. We saw nearly 500 children on this trip and after crunching our data we have seen a significant decrease in the rate of anemia in the kids.
We met with the women in our inaugural diabetes lifestyle modification program to get feedback on the program and were able to observe an exercise class. We also talked with parents about their perspectives on the dental program with Dr. Chepe.
We had three PA students from Duquesne University helping us provide care and a Girl Scout implement her Gold Award project. We also found some time for cultural immersion and fun! The group traveled to a number of villages around Lake Atitlan and rounded out the week with a few days in Antigua. Overall, we had a successful trip!
If you would like to join us on a future trip, please reach out to mayanza.guatemala@gmail.com