Primeros Pasos / Inter-American Health Alliance
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Mission Statement
Primeros Pasos' mission is to improve the quality of life of rural communities in the Palajunoj Valley in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala through increasing access to medical, dental, nutritional, and health education services with highly qualified professionals.
About This Cause
Primeros Pasos is an accessible primary care clinic focused on comprehensive and preventive health, offering medical and dental services including on-premise pharmacy and laboratory, pediatric mobile clinics, and a nutrition outreach program. Primeros Pasos’ clinic is the only reliable, affordable, and comprehensive source of primary healthcare provision in the Palajunoj Valley with a medical doctor, dentist, pharmacy, laboratory services, and nutrition-focused community outreach program. We provide affordable or free care, health education, and nutritional support to between 4,000 to 6,000 families each year. Founded in 2002 through a collaboration of Quetzalteco and US medical students, Primeros Pasos has partnerships with universities, businesses, NGOs, and individuals, both international and local, that support our work and the field of community health. In 2004, the project became known as Primeros Pasos (which translates to 'first steps') with the goal of helping children take their first steps towards a healthy life through the combination of access to health care, nutrition, and health education. Primeros Pasos is a nonprofit, independent organization with a comprehensive outlook on healthcare. We are incorporated in Guatemala as a non-profit association (Asociación PASOS) and in the US through our counterpart and fiscal sponsor, the Inter-American Health Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We’re a small year-round team of nine and are Guatemala- and women-led, including six Quetzaltecas, two Palajunoj Valley residents, and one US citizen. We serve as a primary care rotation for Guatemalan medical students and welcome support from over 30 international and local volunteers each year through our robust service learning program. The need: The Palajunoj Valley is home to approximately 18,000 people residing in 10 communities. Despite its geographic proximity to the urban center of Xela, the communities of The Valley are overlooked by the municipality and some communities still lack access to basic services such as running water and electricity. Though the government has opened 4 rural health posts in the Valley in the past 15 years, they are staffed by auxiliary nurses and their focus is importantly on prevention, including vaccines, prenatal care, and parasite prevention in young children. The indigenous communities of the Western Highlands face some of the highest rates of malnutrition worldwide, with up to 70% stunting (chronic malnutrition). In the Valley, the average household includes 6 persons and makes an average of USD $1.28 per person per day*. 56% of families identify as Maya K'iche and another 28% as mestizo including Maya ancestry. Educational attainment remains lower than the department average: 21% have not finished primary school, 21% have finished primary but nothing further, 16% have completed diversificado (high school), and 7.8% have attended university. Over 65% of the Valley uses public buses as their primary form of transportation - in some communities buses pass only twice a day. In terms of transportation for health care needs, 20% of families indicated their transportation was not available when seeking health care and 35% responded they couldn’t afford transportation when seeking health care. (*data from household survey conducted in 2016) To this day, Primeros Pasos is the only comprehensive and affordable source of health care within the Palajunoj Valley. We are able to significantly subsidize patient care, offer free care through mobile clinics, and provide critical nutritional support to young children and their families each year because of our generous donors and grantmakers. Thus far in 2020, over 80% of our expenses have been funded through generous international donors. Your donation makes a great impact. Here are a few examples of what a significant donation can provide: --$75 provides 1 package of staple foods and vegetables to families of acutely malnourished children to 20 families --$200 provide free medications for 60-100 children during a school mobile clinic --$350 provides materials for 4 healthy cooking workshops in each of our nutrition outreach partner communities --$750 provides seedlings and trainings for family gardens for 20 families If you would like to sponsor 3 days of mobile clinics in the hardest-to-reach communities, please be in touch to direct your $1,000 donation! Email Rhiana at giving@primerospasos.org today for more information! Primeros Pasos' counterpart and US fiscal sponsor is the Inter-American Health Alliance, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, please keep your email donation receipt as your official record. We'll send it to you upon successful completion of your donation. To learn more, visit www.primerospasos.org