Gifting Hope One Patient At A Time

Gifting Hope One Patient At A Time

Today, November 14th, marks World Diabetes Day, a powerful reminder of the growing need for accessible healthcare worldwide.

In the Highlands of Guatemala, this crisis real. Chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension continue to affect thousands—especially in rural Mayan communities where access to medical care and essential medications is severely limited.

At Salud y Paz, we don’t just treat symptoms; we commit to the patient’s entire journey. We believe in being a reliable health partner, walking alongside our communities through education, follow-up care, and consistent treatment.

The need is immense: nearly half of our patients live with ongoing conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Your support ensures they continue to receive the life-changing care they need.

We urgently need your help to sustain this vital, ongoing work.

This Giving Tuesday: Help Us Raise $40,000.

This critical funding will go directly toward ensuring stability for our most vulnerable patients:

• Keep the Clinics Open: Fund the operating costs required to sustain our rural clinics year-round.

• Deliver Essential Medications: Ensure a continuous supply of essential chronic disease medications.

• Provide Long-Term Stability: Secure reliable, long-term follow-up care that empowers and provides hope.

Read Feliciana’s story, below, to see exactly how your generosity can change a life.

At 75 years old, Feliciana from Quetzaltenango has lived a life marked by hard work, faith and love for her family. Married to Don Eulalio, 88, and mother of six, she has always been an active and respected member of her community. But a few years ago, her health began to decline as she faced two difficult diagnoses — diabetes and hypertension — conditions that quickly turned her daily life into a challenge.

It all started after a fall that left her with a wound on her foot that refused to heal. She began to feel constant thirst and overwhelming fatigue. One day, she collapsed while working around her home. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where doctors discovered her blood sugar was over 500 mg/dl. She was immediately treated with insulin and given the life-changing diagnosis: diabetes.

In 2019, Feliciana heard about a Salud y Paz international medical team visiting her community. She decided to attend, seeking medical care and guidance. That day changed everything, she began regular follow-up visits with our clinic and received ongoing treatment to manage her conditions.

As the pandemic began, the temporary closure of the Salud y Paz clinic left Feliciana needing to find urgent ways to purchase her medicines. Thankfully, our staff was able to connect with her, sharing news of our new satellite clinic. Feliciana started attending immediately and has been receiving her quality care there ever since.

Since then, Feliciana hasn’t missed a single appointment. The medications and medical follow-up she receives through Salud y Paz have helped her regain control of her diabetes and hypertension — and her strength.

Today, Feliciana’s story is one of resilience and gratitude. Her determination, combined with the compassionate care of Salud y Paz, has restored her health and her hope.

Graduation Highlights – Celebrating a Year of Growth and Learning 

This month, we celebrated the 2025 graduation ceremony of our Colegio Susanna Wesley Students! Despite the weather, the event was a beautiful success.

Our incredible school staff organized and led the ceremony, while the parents of our preschool graduates prepared a special lunch for the grade to share — families, Salud y Paz staff and students all came together to celebrate this important milestone.

It was a heartwarming day filled with smiles and pride for how much our students have learned and grown this year. Moments like these remind us that education is a shared effort, made possible by the love and commitment of an entire community.

Thank you to all of our sponsors for making this journey possible. Your support continues to open doors for these children and build a brighter future for their families.

Don’t miss our highlights video, below!

A Season of Gratitude and Transition

The Salud y Paz board meets in person twice a year with regular video-conferences in between. Typically, the board is in Guatemala for one of those meetings and the other is shared among board members in the US to host.

I was pleased to host our meeting in early November which was my last as Board Chair and my last (at least for now) as a member of the board. I’ve served as Chair for 7 years and with the board for 11. During my time as Chair we’ve survived the challenges of Covid, started then restarted construction on the new clinic building, hired an Executive Director, graduated over 300 students from Suzanna Wesley School, and helped countless dental and medical patients. I am proud of what has been accomplished and extremely proud of Salud y Paz. The organization is healthy as we head into our 25th year of providing services to the Indigenous Mayans of the Highlands of Guatemala.

I really enjoy my time face to face with my fellow board members. They are a talented, generous and committed group. I will miss seeing them regularly but have confidence that the friendships developed will continue for years. The organization is in excellent hands with Laura as Executive Director and with the very capable board under leadership of our Chair Elect Larry Hjalmarson.

Thanks to all that have supported and been a friend. I will see the board and so many others when I attend the 25th anniversary celebration in November of 2026 in Camanchaj.

 ~Guy Griswold

In loving memory of Barbara Travis

In October, we lost a wonderful supporter of Salud y Paz and the people of Guatemala – Barbara Travis. Barb was generous with her time and resources to support our mission of health and education for the Mayan communities. She and her husband, Jack, traveled with Coronado Community UMC of New Smyrna Beach FL countless times to bring help and supplies for the people of the Highlands. Barb didn’t stop with her own household to support Salud y Paz and Guatemala. She was relentless asking others to help; greatly multiplying her impact on the clinic and school. Barb’s presence and generosity will be greatly missed!

To honor Barb’s memory, we have republished, below, a story that Barb and Jack shared during our 20th anniversary year, of how they fell in love with Guatemala.

 ~Guy Griswold

We had always felt called to volunteer work, being involved in several missions here at home. But I’ll admit I took some convincing to come to Guatemala! I didn’t want to come!  But we took a leap of faith and within a day we had fallen in love with Guatemala.

It was Dr. Arlen Stauffer through our church Coronado Community UMC who first introduced us to Salud y Paz almost 20 years ago. And that was how we met Salud y Paz founder Dr. Phillip Plunk. He became a dear friend of ours.

Our church was involved in the development of the Colegio Susanna Wesley Preschool. It’s through education that we feel that Salud y Paz can have the greatest long-term impact.

Supporting, and encouraging others to support the school, is important to us. It’s an honor for us to provide school supplies, recruit sponsors, and be present to welcome the new school class at the beginning of each school year to show our encouragement.

But what we never anticipated that first time we got off that plane in Guatemala City was just how much we would fall in love with the people of Guatemala. How much our Guatemalan friendships would mean to us. How much we would learn from their incredible strength and resilience.

We promised our dear friend Phil that we would do 20 mission trips to Guatemala. We’ve done 17 and our dream is to make it to 20!

A Reflection from Service Team CMMI

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” — Matthew 20:28

Earlier this month, we had the joy of welcoming the Christian Medical Missions International (CMMI) team to our clinic in Camanchaj for a one-day clinic. Guided by faith and compassion, the team spent the day providing care, comfort and hope to patients who came seeking support.

Diane Gele, team leader, shared, “As the Bible instructs us to imitate Jesus, our mission is to serve our brothers with love. We are always humbled by the people who come to us in complete trust, and we pray for God’s healing hand to touch them. Salud y Paz is an amazing organization who is incremental in our success as a medical/dental team! Thanks and blessings to all who serve at Salud y Paz!”

Together, we continue serving with love and building healthier communities.