Medical Mission Trip To Guatemala

Hi.

My name is Shawn and I have been a nurse for 9 years. Long before I was a nurse, though, I have dreamt of going on a mission trip to help those in need, and less fortunate. As you may surmise from the title above, I am excited to finally be going on my first medical mission trip to Guatemala! In doing so, I will be helping to provide the wonderful people of this disparate country the medical care and assistance they very much need.

For this particular week-long program the medical care provided will be at clinics, as well as elderly and special needs facilities. We are talking about people who truly need our help.

Over half of the country is impoverished, and one in five live in extreme poverty (that’s equivalent to making $1 a day). Many of the least fortunate are the indigenous, non-Spanish speaking population who have limited access to education and opportunities. A large portion depend on farming inherited land as their sole source of income, contributing to cyclical poverty in Guatemala.

On top of that, the locals have to contend with dangerous gangs, as well as deadly, active volcanoes. The last eruption was less than 3 years ago and killed over 200 people and misplaced thousands.

As we all know traveling does not come cheap. That’s where you come in and we work together as a team! By providing any sort monetary donation, you will be helping me make an impact in these people’s lives. Far too often the Guatemalan people only have volunteer medical staff to rely on for their care.

I want to be transparent, so here is the breakdown of the cost:

Volunteer program fee + banking fee: $349
Registration fee: $405
Logistics and Materials fee: $75

Travel Insurance: $82
Flight: $560
Food/water: $150
Unforeseen expenses: $129


This comes to $1,750

The program fee covers a place to stay, as well as breakfast and dinner on the weekdays. Lunch will not be covered. I’m unsure of what meals, if any, will covered on the weekends. As for the old saying “don’t drink the water,” that’s definitely applicable here. The tap water is not potable, and only bottled water is safe to drink, so that will come out of that budget.

Here’s the kicker: my flight leaves on March 6th, less than two weeks from now. I had originally planned for April, but had scheduling issues. I’m ready for some warmer weather now, anyway.

For those of you who can give, your names will be placed on some sort of memento (unless requested not to) that I will donate to the facility so they can know we didn’t do this alone.

Thank you all so, so much. I am incredibly excited, and humbled to have an opportunity to give without expecting anything in return.