November 2023

Dear Supporter of Qeqchi Partners:

I am writing in the days after Thanksgiving to share with you how I lived my Thanksgiving Day in Guatemala.  Through our organization we have been able to train and prepare rural women to be community health workers and midwives following a 2-year formation process based on the book, “Where Women have no Doctor”.  On Thanksgiving Day, a group of 35 women celebrated finishing the first year of the process.  To arrive to the ceremony, I traveled an hour and a half of bone-jarring muddy and rocky roads in a 4-wheel drive vehicle from the town of El Estor. The women, some of whom travel 2 hours by foot to get to the village where the formation occurs, were assembled as I arrived about 9:30.  The mood was festive.  The women had prepared a traditional Mayan meal—turkey soup, rice and cacao for the occasion.  During the ceremony each woman participant received her own stethoscope and blood pressure cuff.  Many spoke expressing their thanks to our organization for sending the trainers (employees of Qeqchi Partners) to the village each week.  During the year only one woman dropped out.  All expressed willingness and hope to participate in 2024.  They further expressed their gratitude with a modest cash offering and several pounds of locally grown bananas, oranges and squash.

The following day, in the town of El Estor, nineteen women celebrated having finished their 2-year course. Similarly, they arranged for a festive ceremony, had a traditional lunch prepared and spoke with much gratitude for having been able to participate in the formation program.  All the women received diplomas, and were informed that during the coming year there would be follow up to monitor their progress and hopefully give some additional training periodically.  The health workers and midwives learned not only the contents of the two-year text, but also techniques such as giving injections, stitching wounds, cleaning out ears.  These skills are of great importance given that most of the women live hours away from medical care, no ambulances or accessible health facilities.  This lifesaving work has been made possible by your continued generosity.

Learn more about our Women's Health Training

Gratefully,

Rev. Daniel Vogt

Co-Founder