This is no different in the country of Guatemala, where long-standing political corruption and violence have created a nation where more than half the population lives below the poverty line. In this land, 1 in 2 children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and most of them receive little to no schooling. Many girls are pulled out of school early on to help their mothers care for younger siblings or to work.

In the midst of this, the women and mothers of poverty-stricken families are trying to care for children, some women walking 3 or more hours of every day just to access clean water sources. For many of these women, the thought of proper medical care and reliable meals for their children is purely a dream.

The Bethany Center: Meeting the Needs of Women and Children in Guatemala

The goal of the Bethany Center (Centro Betania) network in Guatemala is to care in a special way for these women and children, reaching out to the most vulnerable and offering them a helping hand.

This network consists of one central urban center in Coban Alta Verapaz and two “commedores” (dining rooms) spread out in the nearby countryside. A fourth location, the Infant and Maternity Center, is located 84 miles away from the city of Coban in the remote mountainous village of San Benito Lachua.

For more than 5 years now, the Bethany Center has been supporting women and children by offering:

• Hearty meals
• Medical care and attention
• Education for young children
• Training programs that improve the women’s ability to earn a living
• Space for Guatemalan families to socialize and build community
• Spiritual, mental, and physical refreshment

A Place for Community

The central location of the Bethany Center is in the bustling city of Coban. This center draws people from all over the city, and from more rural areas just outside of the city. Many take long, crowded bus rides into the city from their simple, rural homes to attend this center, and many of them are there 5 days a week.  

These families come for education, food, and socializing. This urban center has education for very young children along with daily meals — substantial lunches mostly — for these same children plus their parents or other caregivers, who may be with them. These families are quite poor and, for many, this meal is the most substantial and nutritious they will consume that day.

Building for the Future

One of the devastating effects of the poverty in Guatemala is the extremely high rate of infant mortality. In one remote aldea, up in the mountains about an hour and a half drive away from the city of Coban, there is a pre-natal, neonatal, and post-natal center, the Infant and Maternity Center. This center provides medical care and support to mothers as they care for themselves during pregnancy and their infants and children after birth.

This center is working hard to reduce the number of infants and mothers who die from preventable conditions during pregnancy, such as hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy including eclampsia and preeclampsia, and infections. It also serves infants and children by providing treatments for common infections, offering proper nutrition, and helping infants of pre-term births get the help they need to survive. 

Here’s Why We Need Your Help

Although we are more than five years into the launch of the original Bethany Center, our work with the poor in Guatemala is just beginning.

We are focusing on a simple number this holiday season: 5,000 dollars.

You can give the gift of health this holiday season to the vulnerable women and children that the Bethany Center serves in rural Guatemala. And while every dollar brings us closer to our goal, here are a few specific amounts that make a big impact:

• $50 ensures necessary supplies for a new baby.

• $100 gives a child the ability to attend our school for one year.

• $250 provides postnatal medication and supplements for a new mother and her baby.

• $500 covers the cost of prenatal visits for an expectant mother.

• $1,000 helps us pay the salaries for our full-time nurses and security guard.

• $1,500 allows us to continue providing meals to over 200 children daily

Bring Health for the Holidays to Guatemala

We ask you to prayerfully consider giving your support to MercyWorks this holiday season. Every prayer and donation you make has a significant impact, and we are excited to see the good work the Lord will do through this holiday season.

As we have seen time and time again during our work here in Guatemala, it does not take much money to do an enormous amount of good. The women and children of Guatemala face incredible challenges, but they bear these hardships with cheerfulness and faith — and your support makes all the difference. 

God bless you! 

Give health for the holidays when you financially support the Bethany Center and the women and children in rural Guatemala!