Bringing Hope and Healing: A Mission of Care in Guatemala

Last summer I was approached by a Maltese nurse, who expressed her desire to do some community work amongst the poor and sick people at our mission in Guatemala. I immediately set the ball rolling and I informed Fr. Joseph Camilleri and Alvaro Morales, our mission coordinator. We held various meetings to work out a plan, so that during her time in Guatemala she would attend to the maximum number of patients possible. I managed to enroll doctor Keren CG Castellanos from Guatemala City, who subsequently joined forces with Mariella Zahra during her visit. With the support of various people, the time has arrived and both Mariella and Keren have now started their missionary work which seems to be having a positive effect. They set up a clinic at Maria y Marta community convent in Azulco, with the help and support of the nuns, which is open every morning, while in the afternoon they both visit the sick and the old people who are housebound in different Aldeas. Juan Agustin Pompa , a local from Azulco, supports them by finding time to take them to different villages and homes which he is very familiar with. I have to mention the support that we keep getting from San Juan Bautista Hospital, where patients with severe cases are being referred to this hospital at no cost. Fr. Joseph Camilleri has also offered to fund all the medicines that are needed during Mariella’s stay. It gives me great satisfaction that after so many months of planning and roping in different people to this project, it has finally materialised and it is bearing fruit to the most vulnerable people in the area. Thank you once again to all those involved in this project.