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.