Medical Teams InternationalCarla McMahon
Evanta: Guatemala Community Work
Doing my internship at Evanta, I was able to experience the preparations, excitements and how rewarding it was for 14 Evantians to experience a Guatemala Mission with Medical Teams International.
What is MTI
Medical Teams International provides medical and dental care, humanitarian aid, and holistic development programs to all people in need, regardless of religion, nationality, sex, or race.
They respond to disasters around the world to care for the sick and injured. They also mobilize long-term health promotion initiatives, collaborating with established partners within each community to ensure that the programs have a sustainable impact.
What Makes MTI Unique?
The work of MTI is supported by volunteers and leveraged by in-country partners to deliver more care and more humanitarian aid per donation dollar.
The volunteer opportunities are typically 1-4 Week engagements. This gives professionals the ability to integrate volunteering into their busy careers.
For every MTI staff member, there are approximately 4 volunteers.
MTI started as a local non-profit organization to become Global with offices in 9 countries and 5 states. Ron Post founded Northwest Medical Teams (now Medical Teams International) in 1979, in response to reports of thousands of Cambodian refugees escaping the killing fields.
Action
Medical Teams International teams help will...
Provide medical and health services, training and supplies to the most vulnerable in the world’s most impoverished regions.
Mobilize expert volunteers and staff to respond to disasters where needs outstrip capacity to provide care.
Deliver dental care to children and adults in our own communities who can’t afford or access services.
2014 Accomplishments
Throughout 35 years of operation, MTI has earned various accomplishments:
Evanta and Its Mission
Summary of Mission
The community health project consists of building latrines alongside an indigenous community called Saca in the El Quiche department of Guatemala near the town of Chicaman.
Fact
According to the Medical Teams International project proposal, “the main causes of morbidity in children 5 and under are respiratory infections (41% of death) and diarrhea (17% of deaths).” Only 45% of the families in the 22 communities in which MTI works have pit latrines.
This means over half of the families practice open defecation near their homes, water sources, and in fields around the community. This unsanitary practice spreads disease via the transfer of particulate fecal matter to food by flies or to the mouth via hands. Improved pit latrines coupled with education have changed this behavior and improved the health of children in communities that have built the new latrines.
Goals/Objectives of Mission
Goal: Improve the physical, social, and spiritual health of the people in Chicaman
Objective 1: Reduce the incidence and improve case management of pneumonia in children under 2 years old.
Objective 2: Reduce the incidence and improve case management of childhood diarrhea in children under 2 years old.
Objective 3: Reduce stunting and underweight in children under 5 years old.
Objective 4: Improve health of pregnant women and mothers.
Finished Project: The team will build latrines which will serve 57 families (269 people).
First Day of Adventure
We started our adventure Saturday morning, when we landed in Guatemala at 6am. We traveled an hour to the city of Antigua, and although most of us barely slept on our flight we ate breakfast and then went on a hike up a hillside to get a good view. We spent the day exploring and shopping and getting to know the MTI team.
Sunday was spent traveling closer to our community so after 8 hours on a bumpy, winding bus ride, we made it to the town of Chicaman for MTI orientation. The mayor came out to greet us!
Today, we stuffed into three pickup trucks for a four hour drive to meet our families. This community had never seen Americans before so they were in awe and it took a few hours for them to warm up. They had a celebration planned with a huge feast and after showing the kids what it looks like to have their photos taken on our phones, we stayed work. We built three latrines so lives have already been changed!
More Stories Told from Afar
We had more folks line the streets to see "the gringos" so we waved a lot on our hour ride to the village. Our community anxiously awaited our arrival and the women hosted a lunch at one of their homes today for all of us as a thank you.