Clinica Villa Guadalupe
The clinic known as Clinica Villa Guadalupe, and the community it serves, have their origins in the Managua city dump. Until 2013 there were 1,200 residents that lived in the dump and survived by sorting through the trash to recover anything that could be sold. There was a clinic, Casa Base de Salud, in the dump that provided basic medical services. The clinic was operated by a joint effort of a Nicaraguan organization and a US-based organization named Manna Project International (MPI). Austin Samaritans has helped fund this clinic since the creation of Austin Samaritans in 2007.
The City of Managua and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development undertook a project to transform the open dump into a managed landfill with soil cover each day and a recycling plant. The project included the relocation of the residents of the dump. Houses were constructed for these residents in Barrio Villa Guadalupe. However, the transition was abrupt. Residents were moved with little notice. With only two days’ notice, Casa Base de Salud had to evacuate its building, which was subsequently razed.
Initially, the clinic re-established operations in half of a small duplex in Barrio Villa Guadalupe. Later, operations were moved to a small house in the neighborhood, where the clinic still operates. When clinic operations transitioned to the house, MPI became the sole operator of the clinic, and Austin Samaritans increased its support.
The community served by the clinic increased significantly in size when the clinic moved to Barrio Villa Guadalupe. In addition to former residents of the dump, the community also includes approximately 450 families that were relocated from an area subject to flooding by Lake Managua to houses built by the City of Managua. Including these two groups and the adjacent communities, there are now approximately 13,700 residents in the service area of the clinic.
The clinic is fully licensed by the Nicaragua Ministry of Health and is an important provider of health care services in this community. It provides general medical services, obstetric/gynecologic services, ultrasounds, laboratory tests, and free medicines. There is a special focus on pediatric services and monitoring the growth and development of pediatric patients under 5 years of age.
Patient enrollment exceeds 5,900; and, in 2020, it provided over 3,000 medical consultations. Women especially appreciate the quick turn-around time for receiving results of their PAP smears and the personal care given if follow-up is required. Government clinics are free but can take up to three months to provide results for PAP smears.
In 2018 there was wide-spread political turmoil and demonstrations in Nicaragua. MPI, which relies heavily on volunteers from the United States for its activities, decided that it could not ask volunteers to come to Nicaragua because of the risk. (The medical staff at the clinic are Nicaraguan, but a lot of support activities were provided by the volunteers.)
MPI advised Austin Samaritans of its intention to close the clinic. Austin Samaritans began looking for an alternative organization to operate the clinic because of its importance to the community. AMOS Health & Hope (AMOS) was identified as a desirable choice. AMOS is a mission of the America Baptist Church. Its programs were initially begun in Nicaragua by Dr. Gustavo Parajon in 1967. In 2002 Dr. David Parajon, son of Dr. Gustavo Parajon, and his wife Dr. Laura Parajon came to Nicaragua as medical missionaries.
AMOS currently oversees 24 rural health clinics. At these rural clinics, local residents are trained as health promoters. Health promoters identify and treat common illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia – which, without proper knowledge and treatment, can be deadly. Health promoters refer patients in need of specialized care to larger health centers and organize emergency transportation within their community. They manage a small clinic, stocked with essential medications and supplies, to bring access to health care to vulnerable people right within their own communities.
In addition, since 2012, AMOS has operated the El Samaritano Clinic in Nejapa, an impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Managua. This clinic provides general medical services, gynecology, laboratory and ultrasound services, and a pharmacy.
Their long-standing commitment to improving the health and well-being to the residents of Nicaragua and their expertise in this area made AMOS an ideal candidate to assume operation of Clinica Villa Guadalupe. The transition was successful, and AMOS began operating Clinica Villa Guadalupe in August 2019.
Austin Samaritans is the primary financial supporter of the clinic. With the transfer from MPI to AMOS, funding sources available through MPI were no longer available, and Austin Samaritans has increased its funding commitment.
