GlobeMed at Georgetown

Who We Are // GlobeMed at Georgetown

Founded in 2010, GlobeMed at Georgetown is one of 46 GlobeMed chapters working to improve the health of people living in poverty around the world. We work with Primeros Pasos in the Palajunoj Valley of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, a non-profit clinic that provides over 7,500 children and adults access to quality medical, dental, and laboratory services along with providing health education classes year-round to participating schools, daycare centers, and women’s groups. This year, GlobeMed at Georgetown is aiming to raise at least $6,500 to launch a malnutrition project enabling Primeros Pasos to ensure that all schoolchildren identified as malnourished in the Palajunoj Valley are provided with the necessary medical follow-up.

Our Partner//Primeros Pasos in the Palajunoj Valley of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Primeros Pasos is a non-profit, independent organization with a comprehensive outlook on health care. Primeros Pasos works in the Palajunoj Valley, a rural valley in western Guatemala with high rates of communicable diseases, malnutrition, and untreated chronic diseases. With the collaboration of health professionals, health educators, volunteers, and community leaders, Primeros Pasos offers quality and affordable health care and health education to the rural, underserved communities. Primeros Pasos incorporates and combines clinical care, health education, and community outreach programs to effectively provide preventative and primary care.

Our Project// $6,500 toward health services and medication for malnourished elementary school children

Primeros Pasos’ signature program, Healthy Schools, provides annual check-ups, in-clinic health education lessons on nutrition and hygiene, and free medications to all elementary school students in the Palajunoj Valley. All children currently participating in this program are evaluated for malnutrition when they visit the clinic. For 2011, malnutrition is assessed by Clinic staff based on children’s age-to-weight ratio or a height-to-weight ratio and staff records all related data for each participating child. To-date, over 50 percent of children attended to as part of the Health Schools Program are considered malnourished. Although there has been a significant reduction in the number of children classified as mildly, moderately, or severely malnourished since the inception of the Healthy Schools Program, high rates of malnutrition continue to be a problem for families of the Valley, despite Primeros Pasos’ efforts. This has resulted in the planning of a comprehensive Nutrition Program for the children of the Palajunoj Valley to launch in April of 2012. Current estimates require approximately $10,000 per year to effectively implement this project Valley-wide. This cost estimation includes paying for Nutritionists, Laboratory Technicians, Nutritionist’s Assistants, Blood Tests, Lab supplies, and other materials. This program aims to reduce the level of Grade I and II Malnutrition rates by 8% annually for school-age children in the Palajunoj Valley who participate in the Healthy Schools program. Primeros Pasos attends to approximately 3,000 schoolchildren each year.