Author Archives: Kristen Rinaldi

Newsletter-March 2016

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The Power of 15 Years 

From the Desk of Clarissa Fuentes, Executive Director

Not only is it exciting to arrive at 15 years of mission and ministry, it is statistically significant. This January we have had time to reflect on our anniversary and truly realize the power of 15.

For $15 Project Salud y Paz can:

* Provide a well child check, vitamins and dental cleaning for one child
* Provide 60-75% of a student’s daily nutrition for a month at Colegio Susanna Wesley
* Manage one adult’s diabetes for a month – glucose monitoring, medical consult, medication
* Train one health promoter in strategies for disease prevention to improve health information in rural communities
* Provide access to specialty care not offered in our region, through our patient assistance fund, for three patients
* Provide one month of after school reading enrichment for second graders
* Offer a continuing education opportunity to public school teachers in Camanchaj
* Provide needed medication for five patients in our most remote clinic in Cunen
* Purchase supplies for one class’s art projects for a month at Colegio Susanna Wesley
* Help provide a scholarship for part of our medical staff to continue their education
* Take five children from Colegio Susanna Wesley, many whom have never been further than a half hour away, on a field trip.

There are over 75,000 children under the age of 15 in the municipality of Santo Tomas Chichicastenango, the county where our main clinic is located in Camanchaj. They make up nearly 50% of the population and suffer from inadequate education and access to government healthcare. Because of its remote location and other factors, 83% of households live in poverty while 20% of those are in severe poverty.[1] The employees, volunteers and board of directors of Salud y Paz dream of a day when every child is able to attend school and none die from preventable illnesses linked to their lack of financial resources. We work every day to change this reality for our neighbors. 

Will you help us by contributing to our Power of 15 anniversary fund? The action steps are listed below: 

**Consider donating $15 for each healthy child you know or $15 a month in our anniversary year.  (If you want to provide the name of the children we will publish them at the end of the campaign.) 

**Create your own fundraising page to help find new friends in our 15th year.(Everyone who reaches the goal of $1500 will receive a special anniversary t-shirt. The top fundraiser over $1500 will receive a three night stay for two in Antigua, Guatemala.)

To begin your campaign, visit us us on Causevox to start your own fundraising page at: http://saludypaz.causevox.com/

[1] TANYA SAMANTHA VÁSQUEZ AVENDAÑO, “DIAGNÓSTICO SOCIOECONÓMICO, POTENCIALIDADES PRODUCTIVAS Y PROPUESTAS DE INVERSIÓN” found on biblioteca.usac.edu.gt on 30 of January 2016, originally published in 2010.
IN OTHER SyP NEWS 
In this issue, we are highlighting the power of love and relationships that have not only enabled us to serve with and among our brothers and sisters in Guatemala for the last 15 years, but has also privileged us to give voice to their powerful stories.   

Capturing & Captivated by Tomasa’s Story

By Jenn Miller of Unlocking Silent Histories

Emilio, Kevin, Maynor, Tomas & Elmer Saquic
pictured with Carlos of Unlocking Silent Histories.

On a chilly day in the highlands of Guatemala, my friend and colleague Carlos and I follow our new friend Tara from Salud y Paz down a winding dirt trail surrounded by corn stalks. We are lugging backpacks full of camera equipment, ready for a day of filming, and finally arrive at the house of Tomasa Ajanel Saquic.  Project Salud y Paz has known the Ajanel family for quite some years, and has given us the opportunity to tell their story through video, sharing with others the incredible resilience of Tomasa, a single mother of 5 young boys, who has overcome many hardships.

We are welcomed into the house with smiles and kisses on the cheek in greeting, and Tara introduces us to everyone – Tomasa, Kevin, Tomas, Emilio, Elmer, and Maynor. We begin chatting with the family as we start to set up our equipment, preparing for our interview with Tomasa. We explain to the family how the interview will go, and all of the boys are eager to be involved in some way, so we assign them each small tasks. Tomasa and her oldest son, Kevin, sit down for the interview while the other boys stand behind the camera, excited to watch their mother on the tiny screen.

The interview begins with Carlos speaking to Tomasa in his native tongue, and the connection between Carlos and Tomasa is instantaneous. It is clear she feels at ease talking with him about her incredible story of triumph over life’s challenges and the support and assistance Project Salud y Paz has provided her all along the way. In sharing her story with us, Tomasa is moved to tears at one point, and after we finish, we embrace, thanking Tomasa for her courage and openness.

The family then goes about their daily lives as we continue to film a bit. The cheerful Ajanel boys begin feeding the chickens, stirring the corn masa as it cooks, and playing soccer. Tomasa watches lovingly, and then begins to crochet. All the while, the family treats us as welcome guests, allowing us to capture intimate aspects of
their lives. In no time at all, it seems, we’ve gained the trust and friendship of this inspiring family. The boys happily show us their rooms, ask to take photos with us, and eventually, break out into a playful water fight.

As I survey the somewhat chaotic surroundings we’ve entered into, I feel such great admiration for Tomasa, who has raised these loving and energetic sons on her own, and is a pillar of strength and devotion to them. Despite the humble surroundings and the hectic activity of the day, the Ajanel house is undoubtedly an ever joyful one.  The love within this family is palpable, and Carlos and I, too, were enveloped in it the moment we crossed the threshold. Having come to know this family and share a bit of their story through our work, Carlos and I are grateful to call them friends.


Unlocking Silent Histories provides opportunities for indigenous youth to critically analyze how they are represented in the media and create documentaries to present their world from their perspectives. It also contributes to the promotion of cultural understanding by connecting youth across geographical boundaries.

 

Update

$33,983

Was raised on December 1, 2015 through your generous giving and the General Board of Global Ministries matching grant!!!

FROM THE SUPPLY CLOSET (BODEGA)

In addition to your financial support, your in-kind donations of much needed supplies equip us with the medication, resources, and materials that our clinic and school need to operate.  If you are part of a team that will be coming in the next few months, we covet your assistance with collecting items we desperately need at the clinic and school.

We are also implementing a new check-in process to ensure that all items you bring can be inventoried and available for use when needed.  So, here are a few guidelines for bringing donations:

#1.  Keep clinic and school donations separate.
#2.  Keep all “like” items together.
#3.  Include contact info for group/team leader.
#1.

OUR CURRENT CLINIC NEEDS:

– Canon printer cartridges 240 XL black & color
– TUMS
– Liquitears
– Nasal decongestant
– Nasal saline
– Cough drops
– Embrace glucose testing strips

OUR CURRENT SCHOOL NEEDS:

– Glitter
– Play-Doh
– Tissue Paper
– Party Streamer
– HP Ink #110
– HP Ink #60 – Black
– HP Ink #60 – Tri-colored
–  Foam Sheets – Various Colors
– Large Kid’s Toothpaste (No mint or cinnamon)
– Children’s Size Toothbrushes
– Elmer’s Glue
– 12 Pack Thick Colored Markers (Crayola)
– 10-12 Pack Thick Colored Pencil

Through your generous support in 2015 our Camanchaj, Urbina, and Cunen clinics…

* Served 9,000 medical patients

*Facilitated 7,267 lab tests

* Performed 164 surgeries

* Completed 3,386 dental procedures

And Colegio Susanna Wesley…

* Educated 50 Pre-K thru 1st grade students

* Provided 60-75% of daily nutrition to50 students

* Provided FREE medical, dental & eye care to 50 students

* Promoted 17 kindergartners to 1st grade

* Prepared 15 first graders to move onto 2nd grade at the public school

The Gift of Presence in Difficult Times

By Clarissa Fuentes, Executive Director

As the month of love and friendship was approaching I began to think of the thousands of ways I see love demonstrated every week.


Yolanda with her twins Angela and Angelica.

The memory that kept coming to mind occurred throughout 2015 with a family from Camanchaj.  We met Yolanda and Angela, one of her twin daughters, on their first visit to the clinic in February 2015, but throughout the year we would meet Angelica, the other twin, their brother Angel, and their father, Daniel, and come to know them better through home visits.  They were a family unified to fight for their mother’s health, the mother/wife who was the center of the family, caring for them all. 

Yolanda came to the clinic when her neck was swollen, reporting that she had had a double mastectomy two years earlier and undergone chemotherapy at one of the only places in the country where it is available at low cost.  Her family had taken out loans from friends, family members, and even a credit agency to help her fight her disease progression.  At the end of her chemo she was told she needed radiation and at her first appointment, two hours from home, in the capital, the hospital informed her the equipment was broken.  Repacking her hopes for the journey a second time, she arrived for her new appointment the next month, only to receive the same news.  For months the family scrounged for the resources to make the trip to Guatemala City every month only to find out the equipment remained unrepaired.  Finally, they could not continue and since she felt decent, they stopped going to her wasted appointments.

But now, they were worried.  Yolanda was swollen and in pain and our staff surgeon, Dr. Susy De Paz, feared the worst, so she asked me to spend some time with them.  Susy programmed Yolanda for the next minor procedures day and biopsied her neck.  We sent the biopsy to pathology in Quetzaltenango and had the results the same week.  Yolanda’s cancer had returned.  We reported the findings to the same hospital where she had undergone her chemotherapy and they began advanced treatment.

By July, the twins were coming to the Camanchaj clinic to get pain medicine for their mom.  When the twins were with us in the clinic we talked with them at length, shared many tears and eventually fears.

By September, the oncologists in Guatemala City referred Yolanda for psychological support, where she came to terms with the news that her diagnosis was terminal.  They stopped chemotherapy treatments and she made her last trips for check ups in the back of an ambulance, too weak to get there on the bus.

In mid-December the moment we had all been preparing for arrived.  The twins called Dr. Susy immediately.  She packed a bag with everything one could possibly need to prepare a body to be buried and asked me to go with her.  The two of us and the SyP social worker, Tomasa, made the walk, finding the home already buzzing with extended family members and friends.  We greeted the mourners and made our way into Yolanda’s bedroom, asking everyone except immediate family to wait for us outside.

For the next hour love poured forth from Dr. De Paz and the girls like I have never seen.  As a hospital chaplain I have been in countless memorable moments with people as their loved one slips from this life into the next.  I have witnessed physicians be nearly as devastated as family members at a loss.  I have touched a hand, a forehead, gazed at persons who have found peace.  But, I have never witnessed love like I did that day.  Susy embraced and held each daughter as she cried.  Then lovingly she told them the job we had before us and invited them to be a part of it if they felt they could.  Angelica and Angela stayed with us as we cleaned their mother and put her into the traditional clothing she would wear forever.  At one point it required me to sit in front of Yolanda on the bed and hold her to me as they arranged her clothing behind her.  Angelica put her earrings in and Angela fixed her wig, while Susy applied make-up so that Yolanda appeared to have died while she was enjoying good health.

The next day Yolanda was buried in the cemetery only steps up the mountain from the family home.

We continued to care for the family by feeding them and listening to their stories about such a strong woman who changed all of us.  I am grateful to work in a place surrounded by compassionate caregivers like Dr. Susy and Tomasa.  Though we cannot treat every illness we can offer our presence with people as they encounter some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives.   We can be the love of God incarnate so that people like Daniel and his children know that they do not grieve alone.

What’s New at Susanna Wesley

By Tara L. Seabrook, Resource Coordinator

This school year marks the beginning of something new–a new playground, and the return of something old–music classes. 


Students enjoy the new playground at recess.

Colegio Susanna Wesley, which had its first day of classes on January 18, 2016, welcomed back 32 returning students who have moved on to kindergarten and first grade, and 17 bubbly new pre-kindergartners (CLICK HERE to meet and sponsor one of our newest students).  

One of the greatest joys of this new school year is the brand new playground that was generously funded and constructed by our friends at Chapel Hill UMC of Battle Creek, MI.  
Last October, when the team was installing the equipment, our first graders were both excited that the new playground was being installed and disappointed that they would be moving on to public school this year.  At least they got a chance to give it a test-drive before they moved on to second grade, and some of them can be seen playing on the playground before and after the English class on Wednesdays afternoons.  


The girls go round and round on the tire swing!

This new addition is fully equipped with swings, slides, monkey bars, a tire swing, and even a climbing wall.  It provides a fun and safe place for the kids that even the teachers enjoy!


The playground’s a hit with the teachers, too!

This year also marks the return of something old–music classes.  Max Blust, a short-term volunteer from Alaska, asked about offering music classes at the school, and we gratefully accepted his offer.  Max, who also teaches music classes in Panajachel, began offering classes at the school on January 25, 2016.  


Max plays his ukulele as he teaches a song. 

Max began teaching the kids simple songs like “Buenos Dias” which he accompanied with his ukulele.  Other favorites among the kids are “Dos Manitos, Diez Deditos” and “Yo Me Lavo Mis Manos.”  


Max introduces the tambourines to a class.

Fortunately, there were some instruments available from the music classes that the school had offered in the past.  So, Max began introducing the kids to the tambourines in one class, and later moved on to the handbells where they have even begun to learn a piece by Beethoven.  Max will continue teaching music to each class for 30 minutes on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next month or so, before he returns back home to Alaska.

The kids (and the teachers) are extremely grateful for the new playground–a safe and fun place to play, and for music classes with “Profesor Max”, which they fondly call him.  The year is off to a great start!

NOW RECRUITING

SURGERY TEAMS!

Spend a week using your specific skill set to provide life-giving surgery to the indigenous Maya of rural Guatemala.

OUR DAY SURGERY PROGRAM NEEDS:
¨ Surgeons
¨ Anesthesiologists
¨ Scrub Techs
¨ Nurses

For More Details or
To Reserve Your Week Contact: 
surgerycoordinator@saludypaz.org

SPONSOR A CHILD,

CHANGE A LIFE!

Invest in a child today, and impact their life in 4 important ways.  CLICK PLAY to find out how and to meet some of our students.

AS A SPONSOR YOU WILL RECEIVE;
– A picture of your child in the spring
– Quarterly electronic school updates
– A picture and message from your child in fall

For More Details or
To Begin Sponsoring A Child Today Contact:
resourcecoordinator@saludypaz.org

Staff Spotlight

NEW STAFF MEMBER
Dr. Kevin Josue del Valle Rivas

Our new physician, Dr. Kevin is a specialist in internal medicine, who graduated as a practitioner of general medicine from the University of San Carlos in 2011.  He studied Internal Medicine in the Western Regional Hospital, graduating this past January.  He and his wife Maria Fernanda are new parents to Sofia Fernanda who was born in early February.  The three live in Quetzaltenango where Fernanda continues her studies in law.  In his free time Kevin enjoys soccer and spending time with his family, especially eating Italian food together.  He describes himself as happy, optimistic and a fan of setting new goals to meet.

CLINIC HIGHLIGHT
Candelaria Xiloj

Candelaria began to work with the project in 2001 as a full-time volunteer, then as a staff person in 2005.  With her warm spirit, she is one of the first faces and oftentimes one of the last faces patients see as she fulfills her responsibilities in the areas of reception and central pharmacy.  Candy and her four children live in the neighboring community of Chicua Primero.  She says she is happy with her work because she has learned a great deal.  She is grateful to watch how the project makes a difference in peoples’ lives, while it provides a way for her to make a living to support her family.

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT
Astry Marleny Elisabeth Sen Gonzalez

Astry is the newest teacher at Colegio Susanna Wesley, and has been teaching our Pre-Kindergarten class for a little over a year–having started in January 2015.  She is from Chichicastenango and is currently continuing her university studies in the area of Faculty of Media Education in Bilingual Intercultural Education.  She is passionate about constructivist teaching (an active and contextual approach to learning), as a tool for forming students capable of facing the demands of society.   Astry enjoys drawing, reading, and serving as a Volunteer Firefighter each week, and believes being a teacher and a firefighter are the best things that have happened in her life.
Copyright © 2016 Project Salud y Paz, All rights reserved.

Making a Difference

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20150213_122058[1]MAKING A DIFFERENCE
By Clarissa Fuentes, Executive Director

(pictured from left to right, Andres, Adrian, and Clarissa)

It was another shop offering something newbies in town need, plastic ware: a laundry basket, a dust pan, a dish drainer. This shop was made for us! We exchanged formalities with the shopkeeper.

“Who do you work for?” Doña Vivi asked.
“Salud y Paz”
“That’s not the one with the clinic in Camanchaj is it?”
“Why yes, it is?  Do you know of it?”
“They are the ones who operated on my mother’s eyes,” she stated with tears in her own eyes.  “She had cataracts for years until the doctors at Salud y Paz did surgery to remove them.”

I tried hard not to swell with pride while celebrating her mother’s wellness.  However, inside me stirred all kinds of emotions. In our very first day in Panajachel, I was already bearing witness to stories of restoration that involved Salud y Paz.

The theme for the last few weeks has continued to be restoration. Salud y Paz is not just about restoring eyesight. The work we have, and that teams and donors engage in, is a holy work of restoration: restoration to healthy life; restoration to faith in a health facility and an educational institution; restoration to financial well-being; restoration of families because when one is sick, the whole family carries the burden. Last week I spoke with patients who came from as far away as two and a half hours to receive treatment. I visited the children’s classrooms, observing how they were accustomed to the rhythm of the school year and happy to be at the school they are so proud of.  Every day is full of possibilities for the patients of Salud y Paz and the students at Colegio Susana Wesley.

These are exciting times of growth and transition for Salud y Paz!  I am delighted to join a team so dedicated to improving the lives of the people in their communities.  I celebrate restoration with Dona Vivi and all others whose lives have been improved because of our common work. I personally thank you for being an important part of that work and invite you to continue your support for this vital organization!

Support Salud y Paz by making a donation.

Nehemias Attends Public School

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Nehemias with new teacher Tonia and old school chum NelsonNEHEMIAS ATTENDS PUBLIC SCHOOL
by Janet Chichester, Director

The public school in Camanchaj has welcomed Nehemias (bottom right) with open arms! We are overjoyed that when it came time for him to leave Susanna Wesley School, Nehemias found a place to go where he can continue to learn and grow. We were a bit nervous about the transition, but the staff  asked lots of good questions and commented that he was a very caring child. They are willing to make the necessary adaptations for him. The director mentioned that it was a wonderful blessing that we had found him and enrolled him in our school. She told us about another special needs child who had received classes at the public school and that he was now able to be a vendor and earn some money. She hoped that Nehemias would someday be able to do the same and told us that it would not have been possible without our intervention. Nehemias’s dad has reported what wonderful progress Nehemias has made and how prepared he is to continue his education at the public school. It is so gratifying to know that our work extends beyond the physical boundaries of our school and project. We are in fact influencing the future!

Support nutrition and education by giving to Susanna Wesley School.

Three Pounds Lighter

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Juana Quino Panjoj2

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.

Regional Surgery Center Update

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P1050633Regional Surgery Center Update

By Wayne Wiley

We’re excited to share that our 3-phase project to construct a Regional Surgery Center at our clinic site in Camanchaj, Guatemala is ahead of schedule. Phase 1, the construction of a new house for our guardian, Tomin, and his family will be completed by the end of the year. In the coming weeks, workers will be painting, tiling, and installing plumbing and electrical throughout the home.

Once this phase of the project is complete, our guardian will move into his new house, vacating his current home. Phase 2 of the project will include renovating that building to become our new, 2-level medical and dental clinic.

This $400,000-plus project is on its way to becoming a reality. So many miracles are occurring with each visiting surgical team that it is not hard to imagine what can be done once the new facility is complete. We will not only be able to bring in additional surgery teams, but we will also be able to keep the clinic open while surgery teams are working at the center.

P1050636We are seeking support for the Regional Surgery Center project. Here’s how you can help.

  • As an individual or group, raise funds to sponsor surgical equipment. You can view the giving catalog at our website.
  • Give toward the construction of the surgery center.
  • Host a construction team who will help with construction.
  • Share this story with your friends.
  • Keep Salud y Paz, its staff and volunteers, and the project in your prayers.

Thanks for making a difference for the people of Guatemala.

Learn more about the Regional Surgery Center project at our website.

Let’s Celebrate

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P1050595Let’s Celebrate: Birthdays at Susanna Wesley

by Janet Chichester, Director

Birthdays—an event celebrated worldwide in many cultures. During the years I’ve worked with the kids at Susanna Wesley School, I’ve noticed that while the kids are very excited about their birthdays, many of them don’t know when their birthday is. Sometimes, their parents don’t know either. Some of the children are too poor to be able to celebrate, and I think some just have too many kids to remember when all of them were born.

At school, we have always celebrated birthdays, usually once a month for all the children who were born in that month. It started out with cookies that the kids got to frost before eating. Now we have brownies!

A big part of our birthday celebration is the birthday hug. The birthday kids stand up in front of the class, and we sing “Happy Birthday” (“Feliz Cumpleaños”) in English and in Spanish, and then, all the children line up to give hugs to the birthday boys and girls. After the birthday hugs, each child gets the opportunity to choose a book to keep and take home with him/her. Each teacher also gets to pick a birthday book.

Year-round, the kids in the school come up to me and ask when their birthday is and when they will get their book (even the children who have already had their birthdays this year!).  I have never seen happier children than those receiving their birthday books.

What a blessing—to do one small thing that results in such big joy.

Support nutrition and education by giving to Susanna Wesley School.

Changed for the Better

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Santa Morales Pilo Bilateral CataractChanged 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.

Position Available: Director, Susanna Wesley School

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HUANIU_APPLE01Project Salud y Paz and its U.S. counterpart, International Hands in Service, seek a talented and capable Director to lead the Susanna Wesley School. Project Salud y Paz has served over 100,000 people in its two medical and dental clinics and school since 2001. It is a joint mission of International Hands in Service, The United Methodist Church and the Iglesia Evangélica Metodista Nacional Primitiva de Guatemala. The school was begun in 2009.

Nearly 75% of Guatemala’s Mayan people live in extreme poverty, subsisting on an average income of less than $1 each day. Guatemala’s governmental institutions are unable to meet the medical, dental, social and educational needs of its rural, indigenous populations. Salud y Paz is able to provide high-quality, low-cost services to bridge the gap in services and help build bright futures for the Mayan people of this region.

The Director oversees all aspects of the operations and planning for the Susanna Wesley School and reports to the Executive Director of the project. The school currently has three classrooms with 54 students enrolled in preschool to first grade. There are currently 3 teachers, a part time physical education teacher, and one aide. In addition there are three staff in the kitchen and an Assistant Director.

Applicants for the position of Director Susanna Wesley School should be experienced in education, school administration, or other educational related field. Applicants are asked to make a minimum two-year commitment to the school and Salud y Paz. The next School Director will be an excellent communicator; willing to be a champion of the school; a fundraiser; have a passion for education, a good supervisor and coach; a person of high ethical standards; have strong religious faith and deep compassion. He or she will be culturally sensitive and proficient at speaking or learning Spanish and committed to providing a quality educational environment where everyone, no matter his or her abilities or disabilities, will continue to learn and grow. Click to view the full Director, Susanna Wesley School Job Description.

To apply, send a résumé that includes complete information about your educational background and employment experience. Please include a cover letter that explains why you are interested in this position, how your gifts and experience make you a good fit, and what your salary needs are for living full-time in Guatemala. On a separate sheet, include the names and contact information for three professional references.

The position is open until filled but interested persons are encouraged to apply by September 1, 2014.

Please send completed electronic application materials to:

Wayne Wiley,
Executive Director
International Hands in Service, Project Salud y Paz
executivedirector@saludypaz.org
(806) 318-8747 or
011-502-5783-6306