“Saving Mothers and Babies in the Rural Guatemalan Highlands”
Global Grant.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lake Atitlan and RC Truckee.
After several months of planning and organization, we can finally share with you our most recent global grant for Hospitalito Atitlán. This project seeks to equip Hospitalito Atitlán (HA) to be better prepared to diagnose and solve prenatal problems and obstetrical emergencies on the southern shores of Lake Atitlán. The beneficiaries are the women and babies treated by their medical providers. Asociación Pro Salud Educación y Desarrollo K’aslimaal opened Hospitalito Atitlán in 2005 with the mission to reduce maternal-infant mortality and continues to be the sole provider of emergency obstetrical services for a population of more than 100,000 Maya on the southern shores of Lake Atitlán.
Part of the project involves training and equipping 16 Community Health Promoters, or “Promotoras,” who speak the local Tz’utujil language and are well respected within their communities. Presently pregnant women are unlikely to go to the main hospitals miles away for cultural and physical hardship reasons and the”Promotoras” will encourage pregnant women to seek care at the four rural prenatal clinics.
Our Rotary club requested that the Rotary Club of Truckee enter into a partnership by becoming the international sponsor of an application for a global grant from The Rotary Foundation.The Rotary Club of Truckee accepted the invitation and began working in tandem with Rotary Club Lake Atitlán and Hospitalito Atitlán. A grant application for the project with a budget of $130,925 was completed at the end of 2024 and received approval from the Rotary Foundation on February 21, 2025.
The Rotary Club of Truckee, its members and supporters contributed a total of more than $30,000. An additional $13,000+ was raised from seven other Rotary Clubs in five districts including three other clubs in our own Rotary District 5190. All contributions from clubs, members and supporters, totaled $43,755. Additionally, the project received financial contributions from five districts, totaling $48,508. The Rotary Foundation contributed matching funds from the World Fund totaling $38,662. Such is The Magic of Rotary. -Rotary Distric 5190 post-
Since the grant was approved, the hospital has been receiving equipment that will greatly assist hospital staff and streamline medical procedures. We had the opportunity to meet Dr. Gonzáles, the hospital’s general manager, and we were able to present him with the new portable ultrasound system for use in rural areas.
