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Guyana

Guyana suffers serious economic inequities, with nearly 50% of the population living in poverty in 2019 and a high infant mortality rate.

Here’s how Humanity First USA is helping.

HFUSA first partnered with HF Guyana in 2005, when record rainfall displaced over 300,000 people. We helped establish food distribution and medical camps to provide food, water, and treatment for the injured, while addressing the risks of waterborne diseases that can dramatically increase the death toll of floods. We directed hundreds of thousands of dollars for medicine, food, and supplies to distribute over 8,300 meals and treat more than 4,500 patients.

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With HF Guyana and other local partners, we organize medical camps for targeted populations like the elderly. With partners like the U.S. Embassy, Ministry of Health, and local medical businesses, we provide general health screenings and distribute free medicines. The camps often include hot meals or opportunities for people to choose goods and supplies like vitamins and personal hygiene products. Local doctors also welcome U.S. students for Gift of Health trips that expose students to patient care while they help patients through their screenings at the medical camps.

A vocational training academy offers young people and adults courses in languages like English and information technology that can help them secure jobs or expand their careers. In 2022, volunteers began to host graduation-readiness seminars at local high schools. Students learned about resume writing, interview skills, and financial management during their senior year.

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High grocery and food prices relative to salaries and savings are a persistent struggle for people in Guyana. HF Guyana delivers food hampers to feed senior citizens and single-parent families in 3 regions. And the team supports 3 local schools each month to distribute meals to children who do not always have breakfast or lunch to help them do their best learning.

Image Gallery

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A woman in blue scrubs smiles at a woman and monitors a blood pressure device.
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Students from the Gift of Health medical mission wear blue Humanity First polo shirts and stand in a line in front of a large sculpture that reads I heart Guyana.
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A women in blue medical scrub top stands while another women in collared uniform with a patch on the sleeve sits in a medical chair and holds up a paper card with a drawing of a blood drop on it.
A group of people pose standing outdoors next to a sign reading Global Health. Some of the groups wears white t shirts or medical scrubs and baseball caps or hijabs. In the center is a tall blonde woman in a red blazer.
A man wearing a baseball cap and polo shirt with the logo for Humanity First looks intently at a man in a baseball cap and yellow t shirt and writes onto a paper form
A man wearing latex gloves stands on one side of a table attending to the finger of a man who is seated on the other side of the table with his hand outstretched.