This project will bring preventative medical care to the 81 primary school students in Pueblo a Pueblo's Primary Education Scholarship program. Many students suffer from conditions that hurt their school attendance and performance. Preventative exams detect conditions like parasites, skin diseases, and vision problems that, once diagnosed, can be easily treated. Project staff will distribute basic medications and refer students to specialists as necessary.
Many school-age children in the Lake Atitlan area do not receive regular medical check-ups. Without yearly physical exams, many medical conditions, including parasites, skin diseases, and vision problems, go undetected and untreated and can cause children to miss school, perform poorly in class, or even drop out. These common medical problems can be easily treated, but not if they go undiagnosed.
This microproject will give each student in our Primary Education Scholarship program access to a comprehensive medical exam with a general practitioner. The appointments will take place at program partner clinic Rxiin Tnamet here in Santiago Atitlan, with a nurse, pharmacist, and lab technician on hand to carry out tests and dispense medications as necessary. Pueblo a Pueblo education staff will allocate project funds to refer students to specialists should students need additional care.
By addressing the three factors that intensify poverty and marginalization of the Maya people in the western highlands - lack of access to health services, poor education, and food insecurity - our programs provide the foundation for a generation of healthy, literate youth empowered to take charge of their own futures.
