Rotary Global Grant Awards Grant for Expansion for a Maternal and Child Health Program in Guatemala.

(DISTRICT 6290) Rotary District 6920, the Skidaway Island Rotary Club, the Vista Hermosa Rotary Club in Guatemala, and Phalarope, Inc. have been awarded a Rotary Foundation Global Grant.

 

The grant will fund to fund Rotary’s support of the Ixchel Maternal and Child Health Program in the Guatemalan municipality of Chimaltenango. Funding will help expand maternal and child care in Guatemala to 12 communities. In 2019, Phalarope, as the managing organization in collaboration with Rotary International, District 6920, the Skidaway Island Rotary Club and the Vista Hermosa Rotary Club, developed and implemented a training program for comadronas (traditional midwives) in 8 communities in Chimaltenango.

 

The program is unique. Comadronas are trained as traditional medical teams: how to detect hypertension using sphygmomanometers, high blood sugar using glucometers, and conduct fetal monitoring using medical equipment such as a portable fetal Doppler. They also learn how to identify signs, symptoms, and underlying causes that put the pregnant women and their babies at risk.  Some conditions require immediate referral, while others need a closer follow-up and referral to a physician when the delivery date approaches. During its first year, the Program provided 180 health education training sessions to 367 women. After 1 year of training, 26 traditional midwifes earned certification.

Guatemala has among the highest maternal mortality rates in the Latin American and Caribbean regions, with 113 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to a regional average of 85 deaths. The Ixchel Program will implement a Maternal and Child Health Community Surveillance System (MCHCSS) with health promoter and traditional midwives that will decrease maternal and child mortality in rural areas of Guatemala.

Dr. Miriam Rittmeyer, a Rotarian from the Skidaway Island Rotary Club in Savannah, GA and a native of Guatemala, is the leader of the Ixchel Program. She served as the Executive Director for Community Health Mission, a non-profit medical organization that provided medical care to uninsured adults, from 2005 to 2014. In 2016, she co-founded and now serves as Chairman of Phalarope, Inc.

“We are so excited to be able to raise Phalarope’s work to a new level with the help of this grant,” says Dr. Rittmeyer. “The support of The Rotary Foundation, Rotary District 6920, the Skidaway Island Rotary Club and the Vista Hermosa Club in Guatemala will enable the Ixchel Program to help thousands of women and their babies.”

Phalarope is a non-profit 501 (c)3 NGO with operations in USA and Guatemala. Phalarope's mission is to improve children’s lives by empowering women through education, community outreach and 

opportunity, enabling families and communities to reach their full potential. The organization 

has no religious or political affiliations. Phalarope has 6 priority areas: maternal and child health, women’s economic empowerment, education, agricultural, professional training, and technical 

support to other nonprofits that share its commitment to improving young lives by empowering women and involving men in women’s activism, both internationally and domestically. For information, visit https://www.phalarope.org

 

To learn more about Rotary District 6920 and its southeast Georgia Rotary Clubs, visit http://www.rotarydistrict6920.org/

 

For information on Skidaway Island Rotary Club, visit https://www.skidawayrotary.org/

 

For information on the Rotary Club of Guatemala Vista Hermosa, visit https://4250rotary.org/clubinfo/guatemala-vista-hermosa/