For The Children
For The Children is a project that was created directly in response to the pandemic. I had been working in Guatemala with two NGOs, Health Outreach Inc. and Quesada Solidaria, to deliver dental care to children in impoverished communities. In 2020, we were able to do clinics in February and returned home about one month before the pandemic struck. Our partner in Guatemala reached out to us as many in the community of San Gabriel had lost employment and the children, many of whom were my patients, needed to be fed.
In response, my assistant and I decided to launch another project with DevXchange focussed on the needs of the children. As 2020 wore on, it became apparent that the pandemic was going to be long lasting and that doing a clinic in 2021 was unlikely. But the children still had needs so the current project would be maintained. Unfortunately, our partner in Guatemala underwent some changes and were no longer with Quesada Solidaria. We were informed immediately when the change occurred and that our trusted partners were forming a new NGO, Guatemala Solidaria. This is where we got stalled in 2021. It took many months for the government to licence this NGO and then several more months before new bank accounts could be arranged. While this was happening, all active fundraising was halted. We wanted everything in place before we went back to any potential donors.
All was finally resolved in late 2021 and we had a short period to raise some funds for the project. This was relatively successful and a donation forwarded to Guatemala Solidaria in late January 2022. We hope to keep this project active through 2022 as we plan for the resumption of clinics in 2023. All funds raised through DevXchange go directly to meeting the needs of these children. Our partner is currently using the funds to buy food and school supplies. Once we are able to return to Guatemala, we will reassess the need and determine where our future focus will be.
Ideally, both the dental project and the children’s project will be able to thrive indefinitely.
Dr Rick Caldwell
