Caregiver and volunteer Charles Ryan traveled to Aldea of Caracól in Guatemala with Medical Teams International this past July. Along with a Cuban nurse and a local provider, he, and his team, made house visits to check on the children in this village. During his third house visit of the day, he met a three year old girl. Upon arriving at the home, the nurse had asked Ryan to pay close attention to the girl due to her suspicions of Down syndrome. Ryan recalls asking for permission to listen to her heart and found a murmur.
As a medical expert, Ryan made sure that the little girl’s needs would be cared for appropriately with medical follow ups for her congenital heart disease. Many of our medical experts that traveled to Guatemala found themselves humbled by the dedication of the nurses and local medical providers to learn and serve their communities the best they possibly can.
Ryan and his team were a part of a larger effort to improve the health of pregnant women and children and to improve access and quality of health facilities. Through educational exchange, our teams have selected and trained women within these villages to be mother counselors to continue these efforts within their communities.
Our village medical training teams have helped lower the maternal mortality rates to zero for the past three years and in 2019 alone, had over 1,800 patient visits, 465 surgical referrals and over 1,500 teeth pulled to potential health threatening infections.
