Family Planning for Guatemalans Living in Poverty

WINGS brings direct reproductive health services to communities that would not otherwise have access to this care. Often the communities are remote and difficult to get to, either because of the terrain or limited access roads.

Last month, WINGS staff left for Chacalté Carchá early enough to compensate for the fog and the roads, muddy from the rain the night before. For hours, the truck slid through the narrow trail, unguarded on the mountainside. Then the truck sunk into the mud. Then it began to rain. Since hardly anyone passes on this road, there was no one to lend a rope or a hand. The staff thought they might have to cancel the clinic, so Eli, a WINGS driver, walked thirty minutes to the Health Center to let them know that they would be late. Upon returning to the vehicle, he continued trying to maneuver it out. Success! Though a short distance later, it was stuck again.

Carmen, a WINGS nurse, said, “The stick shift just wouldn’t comply, we weren’t getting through. At that point we just put ourselves in God’s hands since we thought that at any minute we’d be rolling down the mountain.”

It started to rain harder when the staff decided to walk the rest of the way to the Health Center, hours late. Eli carried all the equipment he could by himself from the truck to the center, and the staff used what was available there to improvize. During the day, the rain stopped but the wind picked up, bringing with it the makeshift curtains and registration forms. Staff grabbed the edges of the curtains to ensure patient privacy, and paperwork had to be held down with rocks. Despite everything, WINGS nurses performed 31 cervical cancer screenings, 11 Jadelle 5-year implants, and one IUD.

Thankfully, after the clinic community members helped get the vehicle out. They followed the truck with buckets of rocks to place under the tires, pushing when it got stuck. Carmen reported, “I have to thank our team, that even in the worst circumstances we help each other out—enthusiastic, optimistic, and always with the desire to do the best we can with what we’ve got.”