Providing Hope Amidst Extreme Poverty, Chronic Health Concerns, and Violence: One Medical Team ’s Experience in Guatemala City

With nearly 18 million inhabitants, Guatemala has the largest population in Central America. It is also a country where approximately 51% of people live in poverty and the  health status of the poor, particularly indigenous Guatemalans, continues to be the worst in the Western hemisphere.1 Our 8-person medical team, which went to Guatemala City in September 2018, consisted of a physician, an RN, 2 pharmacists, a medical assistant, an occupational therapist, and 2 sup port workers (Figure 1). We had the privilege of partnering with Life of Hope Ministries as part of a medical team working with Corazon de Amor (“Heart of Love”) Clinic, which is located near the gate of the garbage dump/landfill area in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala (Figure 2).
Source: Journal of Emergency Nursing: JEN - Category: Nursing Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research