Guatemala, the first days

Sister Sarah, a Sister of Charity from the U.S., started the Clinica Comunitaria Daniel Comboni 15 years ago. This first photo is of the extension she is adding now with the help of her community of friends and family in Cincinnati and in Mixco. Behind her is the sewing room where women are learning marketable skills and below is where the diabetes clinic and the dental clinic will be moving. This part of the clinic will connect with the older building which faces the next street.

One of the activities to celebrate the clinic's 15 years of community building and health provision was a race, about 7k, in which about 90 people participated. This young woman shown here with her mom, sister and nephew was the first woman across the finish line.

This is a photo of Sister Sarah, one of the nicest, toughest, almost 73 year old women around. She's also a family nurse practitioner, administrator, and fearless driver in Guatemala City traffic.

This is one of the health promoters, named Irma, and her daughter... Irma is one of the few people who will grin for a photo. Most everyone else made a terribly serious face so it wasn't easy to show their easy going sides. Below though is the whole group of health promoters from the area in the hills around the Comboni Clinic in Mixco-- Vista Hermosa, Las Limas, San Francisco, San Juan Sacapetequez... Some also teach literacy. We did a three and a half hour all women's health topic taller (workshop) and even with my horrible Spanish it was lively and interesting and I think we all learned from one another.

There were also a couple of days of women's health exams at the clinic and nice time for hanging out with Sister Sarah but this time with the group was the best.