In Guatemala, Women’s Ministries Initiative Provides Bedding for Public Hospitals

By: Bladimir Pineda, Inter-American Division News

A group of Seventh-day Adventist women from eastern Guatemala delivered brand-new bedsheets to four hospitals, in the cities of Chiquimula, Zacapa, Jalapa, and Jutiapa respectively. Church leaders delivered the 561 bedsheets on July 9 and 10, thanks to donations of more than US$5,000 collected across 202 Adventist congregations.

“We wanted to improve the quality of service for patients who have to remain hospitalized while in the midst of the precariousness and limitations suffered by the national hospital network,” said Brenda de Solis, women’s ministries director for the church in east Guatemala.

“Many of our hospitals lack supplies, and the bedsheets were a way for us to meet certain needs of the patient,” Solis said.

It is the first time that a women’s ministries department of the Adventist Church in Guatemala has taken on such an initiative. It comes during a year when the Inter-American Division is celebrating a number of efforts to impact women in the community, church leaders said.

Solis explained that every women’s ministries director at each local church was motivated to purchase one bedsheet (costing about US$10) and encouraged other church members to join in. The goal was to collect $5,610 so that 561 sheets could be used especially for women at the four national hospitals.

“We had one company make each bedsheet with the specific fabric and measurements required by the hospitals, with the logo of the church and a Bible text printed on,” Solis said.

“This shows us the human quality and the elevated values that as a church you uphold,” said Danilo Mart, a representative of the hospital in Chiquimula. “You are an example for everyone in the community.”

Helen Ramos, associate director of the hospital in Jutiapa, said that more than 30 percent of the patients who come to the hospital are women, followed by children and men. She thanked the group of Adventist women and said that the new bedding “will improve the care for patients who come to our institution.”

Ramos explained that the national hospital network in Guatemala has more than 45 hospitals and 1,600 health centers to address the needs of more than 17 million people, and the life-cycle of the bedding supplies in a hospital is approximately three months.

The initiative took two months to complete, from the collection of donations in the churches to distributing the bedsheets, according to Solis. “We want to continue supporting our hospitals with more initiatives and projects,” she said.

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division news site.