Frequently Asked Questions
Living Conditions
What are the living conditions for the people serviced by the clinic?
The villagers live in one- or two-room homes made of wooden boards with dirt floors. There is no running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing. Few homes have latrines. Cooking is done over an open fire inside the home, and smoke-related illness is widespread, especially among the younger children. Water is carried in plastic jugs from a nearby lake or stream during the dry season. In the rainy season, water runs into a community cistern or, in some cases, rain is caught in rooftop gutters and runs into a plastic storage tank. Life is hard and death remains a constant threat because of the absence of medical care.
Do the people have access to clean water?
There is a critical lack of potable water. To deal with this problem, we have partnered with Ecofiltros, a Guatemalan company that makes ceramic water filters. We plan to tackle this enormous challenge one village at a time, starting with Nuevo Edén, where the clinic is located.