It Takes a Village

It Takes a Village: Saint Joseph's College students and Guatemalan villagers join forces More Photos Read their story in the SJC Magazine
	A group of 20 Saint Joseph's College students and staff, led by theology professor Dr. Steven L. Bridge, and Partners In Development (PID) kicked off the New Year by heading to Guatemala for a week to volunteer in the 2nd-poorest nation in the Americas. The group took the village of San Antonio by storm, accomplishing in one week what it takes months to do in the States.
Gale Hull, PID President, and the Mayor of San Antonio, Jacquor de Leon, got things started with a ground-breaking ceremony for PID's first house in Guatemala. Villagers, PID staff and the Saint Joseph's team gathered, along with a local TV crew to record the event. The team then got to work under the supervision of head mason, Carlos. In just a week, the team dug, built and filled a foundation and got started on the house walls!
Filipe Coroy and his family were also on hand at the site, as they are the proud owners of the new home. The fisherman, his wife (who runs a shoe repair business) and their seven children were living in a tiny, one-room house made from scraps of wood. Although they had nine people living in one room, the family was hesitant to join the housing program because they were afraid if they were paying a mortgage, they would not be able to send their eldest daughter to school. Dalia, their 16-year-old daughter, is now the first child in the Guatemalan division of our child sponsorship program and her parents are the proud owners of a home! The house (which has running water, a bathroom, two rooms and electricity) has been completed and the Coroy family moved in.
	While part of the Saint Joseph's team was busy with construction, other team members ran a clinic. Again, in just one week, the team of six nursing students examined teeth for 511 patients; gave 300 flouride treatments; recorded blood pressure readings for everyone over 18; recorded blood sugar levels for those who suspected a problem and/or were over 40; and distributed 15,000 vitamins. The most common medical problem the team saw was diabetes with glucose readings up to 502 (averaging 375 for those who had diabetes)! Another major medical problem that was discovered was the price of medication in Guatemala. Prices are the same as medicine prices in the United States, but in the village of San Antonio people live on 35 cents per person/per day and cannot afford to treat anything. Finding medicine donations will be key to helping this program run efficiently in Guatemala.
Partners In Development, Inc. (PID) is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization working toward community transformation in the Third-World. PID aims for whole life improvement for some of the world's neediest families with child sponsorships, small business loans, a housing program and a medical program. It is their philosophy that given opportunity and resources, people can help themselves develop a sustainable way of life for generations to come. Our program is currently focusing its efforts in Haiti and Guatemala, the two poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Adapted from a PID press release.