Help Needed

Dear Family and Friends, 

This letter below is from my aunt, a native of Guatemala, who now lives in Tennessee (she is married to my mom's youngest brother). She has been organizing medical missions to Peru for about the last five years and now would like to take one to her home country in Guatemala. 

I would like to as your help in spreading the word for her, especially to medical professionals. She is looking for volunteers who can afford to pay their own way. Thanks so much for your help in sharing this letter. Miriam's contact information is included if you have more questions.

"Dear Family and Friends,

I have been planning the first medical mission to Guatemala, which will be held at the Santiago Medical Clinic in the peaceful Mayan town of Solola. We are looking for volunteers to build a team of medical professionals and non-medical support staff to help the underserved population of my beautiful Guatemala. We are thinking of a name for the mission, which right now we are calling "Love in Action."

Unfortunately, I do not have a date set yet, but to avoid the rainy season I am looking for a week in March or April 2013. Please let me know if there is a week in these months that would be best for you.

We want medical professionals of all levels, including physicians, surgeons, pre-med and biology students, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and ophthalmologists to provide medical care at the clinic. If you are not a medical professional, or you have a non-medical family member that wants to travel with you, do not worry—I will put you to work. We are developing a list of potential workshops for the non-medical volunteers to lead, such as basic health and hygiene habits, Spanish literacy, English skills, domestic abuse prevention and parenting classes, sexual health and STD counseling. We also always need volunteers to watch and entertain the children while their parents receive medical treatment. If you have any additional thoughts on a class or workshop that you would enjoy leading, please let me know. Also, you do not need to speak Spanish to help! 

My plan is to have us work hard four days in Solola and then leave a few days for travel around the beautiful countryside in Guatemala. Solola is easily accessible to the beautiful lake of Atitlan, and we will pass through the colonial city of Antigua as well. There are also many other nearby beautiful locations, and I am attaching some pictures.

Finally, I do not know the total cost to each volunteer yet, but I am giving you a very rough estimate. This is not a final estimate, but an amount you can use to plan on whether this trip would be affordable for you or not. Of course, you have a few months before the trip, so there is time to save up! 

Very, rough estimate:

Airfare:

From Atlanta $550 round trip

From Florida $450.00 round trip

From SLC $750 round trip

From LAX $550 round trip

Hotel about $50 per night per person (based on two person per room) breakfast included in the hotel

Lunch and dinner about $20 per day

Transportation while in Guatemala about $100.

We have lots of planning to do, so please let me know if you want to be added to the list of volunteers!

I hope to hear from all of you.
If you want to call me the best time to do it is after 7 pm EST or on the weekends
Love you !
Miriam Lemon
706-280-7862"