Pat Boquist asked BBRC members to work through her for any donations of clothing as she has volunteered and contributed to DFS in the past and is familiar with the process.
Barbara Castellano from the Guatemala Antigua Rotary Club provided an update on the newest global grant that is under development expanding Rotary’s involvement in Guatemala. The Antigua Club is partnering with the BBRC and Suzanne Gibson.
Barbara has been asked to be the liaison with Rotary and the town of Santa Maria de Jesus which is in an extremely poor location. It is situated in a remote area and uniquely suffers one of the highest rates of violence against women. There is only one doctor in the community and no lab for testing.
The grant hopes to cover the expense to set up an expanded medical facility building upon the elementary and middle school that exists. The opening of a nursing school will not only help with the shortage of medical care, but provide an opportunity for women to become independent as they are trained as lab technicians to do lab work.
Again Rotary intends to nurture the relationships that have been established in Guatemala and move to create a sustainable network/ facilities that will continue to support a community.