Ruth Humbert, RN, assists a family at the village clinic.

Caring for People in Guatemala

There are a lot of similarities between the Good Samaritan and Ruth Humbert, RN, who lives in Guatemala. She travels by truck, however, up treacherous roads to deliver medicines and to train village health workers. Ruth often pulls out her own money to meet needs that are beyond the financial reach of the villager. Also like the Samaritan, she doesn’t pass out Bibles or preach to those she offers care to; her life is her sermon.

Ruth has lived and worked in Guatemala almost five years. She is an employee of Community of Christ Health Ministries Association (HMA) and funded by a partnership of HMA and Outreach International to train indigenous nurses to continue these medical clinics when she leaves. She is using the Participatory Human Development Process (PHDP) in selected villages to meet additional needs. Ruth chooses to work with the poorest of the poor to provide medical care and hope through empowering the villagers.
The trust given to Ruth in healthcare matters quickly spread to other areas of need. When Ruth returned to a village the third or fourth time, the people realized she was truly interested in their situation. This trust allowed her to begin PHDP in villages where she held clinics.

Ruth is training eight indigenous nursing students in remote areas. Three of them are now ready to conduct their own medical clinics for their village, as well as for neighboring villages. Medications and supplies are being collected to fill a backpack for each of them. There are no other rural health clinics in these mountainous areas and no source of medications for the families, whose monthly income is $40–$50.

In the recent movie Pay it Forward, the concept of the Good Samaritan was depicted by helping someone do something they couldn’t do for themselves. Ruth saw the immense needs in the communities where she worked. Instead of trying to solve all of these problems, she taught the village women and men the participatory process to help them help themselves. Last May, Ruth and 43 women began dialoguing about the issues of greatest concern to them. They determined that their largest health concerns could be addressed with better stoves, houses that keep out the elements, clean water, and latrines.

This spring, 44 stoves were built in houses after a year of working with the village women, who identified the need for smoke-free, healthier cooking spaces. After looking at several stove designs, they selected one modified by their suggestions. Each of the three groups of women seeking funding for the project made a presentation. When the supplies arrived, they happily carried the materials and began assembling the stoves as they had been shown.

Next, they turned their attention to providing houses that keep out the rain, wind, and cold. The women prioritized which houses had the greatest need for replacement and researched building materials and construction designs. The first three houses were scheduled for construction this July or August.

Empowering these nurses with PHDP began an unforeseen chain of events and changes in additional villages. Ruth takes old tires up to villages daily in the back of the pick-up truck for container gardens. The tires are cut and inverted so vegetables can be grown even in the dry season. One community is transforming a marsh fed by mountain run-off and a ground spring into a tilapia fish farm for a renewable protein source and income. Additional projects arising from Ruth’s work are ecofilters in the houses for safe, clean drinking water and latrines for better sanitation.

E-mail for more information about Ruth’s program in Guatemala or call (816) 833-1000, ext. 1262,  or go to www.HMACofChrist.org.

—Paula Rummel reporting