Friday in Antiqua

Many of the families that come to MOST travel great distances to Huehuetenango. Such is the case of four of the families from the remote Mayan communities of Northwest Guatemala that traveled to be seen by MOST. They were first seen at Casa Colibri, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Rotary International and the Gerard Health Foundation. It serves over 3000 families in the rural communities of Barillas. One of the connections between Casa Colibri and MOST is Paco Fernandez.

Paco‘s history with Iowa MOST started before MOST began. Rotarians on an exploratory mission needed a translator and local networking led them to Paco. The second year of the MOST mission Paco joined as translator and in that process became the go-to guy in dealing with the on-sight problem solving. Then he started to help with pre-mission, non-medical details and continues in those roles today. We, the team of MOST, greatly appreciate him, his efforts and his skills.

Paco has also transitioned into a leadership role at Casa Colibri, House of the Hummingbird. In the beginning, a collaboration of local individuals and those from Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin sought to identify the needs of the local population and bringing relief and hope to those in greatest need. In 2008, Casa Colibri built a clinic that provides the villagers of the area access to basic health services and facilitates follow-up care for those who need further medical treatment.

Casa Colibri serves the people in the rural area of Barillas in the rain forest, about 8 ½ - 9 hours from Huehuetenango. Paco says, “It is remote…and then some”. People will walk up to 12 hours to reach the clinic or multiple families will ride in one car or truck to make the trip. Individuals come to Casa Colibri for basic medical care, children’s vaccinations, training for the village health providers and training for midwife skills.

Other areas of focus for Casa Colibri include goals to build roads, schools for a quality learning environment, and water collection and filtration to provide safe drinking water.

Education is a third focus of the House of the Hummingbird. There are programs to provide textbooks and library books for rural schools, and an early literacy intervention program for families. For more information on Casa Calibri go to www.casacolibri.org.

On Friday of our mission, MOST traveled to Antiqua and attended a fundraising dinner that Rotarians in the area organized to benefit Casa Colibri. The entire MOST team attended this very elegant and festive occasion held at a 16^th century cathedral archeological site. The evening included recognition of those helping to sponsor the event with Paco translating and the wonderful Ballet Folklorico. We were pleased to be a part of this fundraising effort to benefit the people of Guatemala. In Paco’s words,

“It is sharing the same possibilities.”