THREE POUNDS LIGHTER
by Katie Slagle, Surgery Coordinator (middle)

From a distance Juana Quino Panjoj (left), 67, looks like the majority of other Mayan woman living in rural Guatemala. She has tan weathered skin, her long dark hair pulled back out of her face, and wears beautiful, multicolor woven clothing typical to Mayan woman. As she gets closer, however, you notice something very different about her.  She has a mass almost the size of her head growing off of her lower neck and shoulder.

Juana tells us this mass has been growing for the last 20 years.  As the years progressed and the mass grew, so did the pain. The pain has restricted her abilities, and she feels like she can’t help her household as much as is expected.  With the strange appearance of the mass, her social life has become limited to family.  Sadly, even a few of her brothers and sisters refuse to have any type of relationship with her.

Juana says for years one of her sisters has urged her to have surgery, but she refused over and over again. Juana says, “I was afraid. I was afraid I would die. I was afraid they would put me to sleep and I would never wake up.” Finally, a friend of her sister told her about a clinic called Salud y Paz. He explained to them that he had surgery there and felt very safe. They took great care of him and treated him well. After hearing this Juana finally made the decision to go to the clinic for a pre-surgical consult.

Juana qualified for surgery, and after 20 years parted ways with the 3 pound mass that brought so much suffering to her life. After her surgery Juana says, “I have had a change. I feel different. I am happy and excited to complete my tasks again.” When asked if she will miss the mass, she laughs, shakes her head and says, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

Support patients like Juana by giving to our Surgery program.

Changed for the Better

“I am not the same as I was yesterday”

by Katie Slagle, Surgery Coordinator

Three years ago, Santa Morales Pilo’s life changed drastically when her second cataract completely took her vision. “I was depressed and cried all the time,” she remembers. “I couldn’t make tortillas or wash the clothes, but most of all, I missed visiting my children.” Santa became confined to her home. Her family had to help her with routine daily tasks. She couldn’t even eat on her own.

Then, a few months ago, one of her son’s friends told her about the surgery teams who serve at Project Salud y Paz. Along with her family, Santa decided to sign up to see the eye and see if he could help.

When the day arrived to see the specialist, Santa was not nervous.  “I had faith in God that everything would be okay,” she says. “We were praying and thanking God for the doctors who came to help us.”  Santa arrived at the clinic at 4 a.m. and anxiously awaited her consult. When she qualified for surgery and received her surgical appointment, she was overjoyed.

On the day of her surgery, Santa was not nervous at all, only excited. The surgery to remove her cataracts went well, so she was discharged to her home and told to come back the next day for a post-operative consult.

The day after surgery, the surgery team removed Santa’s eye patch, and for the first time in three years, Santa could see. As tears of joy poured down her face, she exclaimed, “I am not the same as I was yesterday!”

Immediately after leaving the clinic, Santa went to visit her son, where she was able to see her 6-month-old grandson’s face for the first time. “He has a cute face; he’s very handsome,” she says.

Santa is so grateful she was able to receive this surgery that she would like those who helped her to know that she is praying for them and their work in the United States.

Support patients like Santa by giving to our Surgery Program.

by Katie Slagle, Community Health and Surgery Coordinator

Juana de Paz is a woman who has faced many challenges in her life. She lives in an “abandoned” community far from town that is impassable by car. Her community does not have electricity or running water. On market days she must walk over an hour carrying a large load on her back. Many of us could not even imagine a day in her shoes. But Juana says the biggest challenge in her life has been overcoming the feeling of hopelessness. She does not have access to any financial resources and cannot read or write. She says, “I had lost hope of being someone in life until one day a friend told me about the Las Amigas program of Salud y Paz. I decided to go participate in the courses they teach, which changed my life. With the first course I received, I felt a large change in my life; I felt valuable.”

Juana is using her new self-value to make a difference in her community. In Guatemala, a clean water source is hard to come by, and unfortunately sugary juices and sodas are a cheap alternative. In turn the population is prone to type II diabetes. To help decrease the rate of type II diabetes, Juana is teaching families how to purify their water. In addition, Juana now understands the importance of hygiene both physically and in the home. By taking care of her own body, teaching her family how to properly care for themselves, cleaning her home, and keeping food covered and disinfected, Juana will be able to decrease the risk of illness in her family and in her community. She says, “I help women with some tips and teach them about how to take care of their family with proper hygiene. This will help them to be healthy.” The part of her Amigas education that Juana is most excited about is natural medicine. People in her community often visit her home with illnesses, and Juana is able to help them with the natural remedies she learned during training.

Juana continues to live in her “abandoned” community, but she now does so in a different capacity. She has not only found a purpose in life, but Juana has found a way to improve the quality of life in her community. She is instilling hope of a brighter future to those around her.