Supplies That Save: Health for Guatemalan Families

Hello!

My name is Jade, and I am a nursing student at Bellin College in Green Bay, WI. In January 2026, I have the honor and privilege of traveling to Guatemala with some of my peers to provide medical care to children and families in need.

This mission trip will bring essential medical care and health education to some of Guatemala’s most underserved populations. The country faces a 74% poverty rate and continues to grapple with nutritional, social, and educational inequities stemming from centuries of oppression and the Central American War, which, although it ended in the early 1990s, left the country socially devastated.

Our team of 20 individuals—including 4 providers (nurse practitioners and physicians) and 16 senior nursing students—will travel to the city of Puerto Barrios, the community of Aldea Punta de Palma, and four smaller indigenous Mayan villages along the eastern coast of Guatemala.

One of our greatest needs is medication for respiratory and gastrointestinal (parasite-related) illnesses, as well as funding to purchase and provide water filters for families with frail elderly members and infants living in the Puerto Barrios “dump” and the jungle villages of Las Pavas, Rio Salado, Baltimore, and Aldea Nueva. We will travel by boat and truck to these areas to set up eight clinics, where villagers can hopefully have their healthcare needs met.

All supplies we bring on the trip are made possible through fundraising and generous donations.

All donations will be used to purchase the following items which are especially needed by families in Guatemala...

• Financial donations for Medications, Water Filters and Clean Stoves

• Acetaminophen/ibuprofen Adults

• Acetaminophen pediatric suspension

• Head and Shoulders Shampoo

• Alcohol swab packs

• 5% Na Fluoride Varnish

• Toothbrushes (lots) children and Adults (individually wrapped)

• Family sized tubes of toothpaste

• Shoes for men, women, and children

• Children’s vitamins (lots and lots, please no “gummies”)

• Infant and toddler multivitamin drops

• Adult vitamins (ziplock baggies to organize them)

• Infant formula bottles

• Cloth diapers for infants

• Vinegar – for lice combs

• Fine tooth combs

• Multiple pairs of “cheater/magnifier” glasses (+2.75-+3.0) – Dollar Tree for $1

• Pretty things for hair, ribbons, clips, barrettes, flowery things, bracelets – give aways

• Band-Aids (larger ones will be helpful)

• hydrogen peroxide

• Simple Toys/games to play with children - Cards, checkers, sidewalk chalk, jump ropes

at the orphanage.

If you'd like to make a direct monetary donation to my school, checks can be made payable to:

"Guatemala Mission Trip"

Memo: Ann Wasmund

Mail to: Bellin College

3201 Eaton Rd.

Green Bay, WI 54311

Any contributions would be incredibly appreciated—thank you so much for your support!

~Jade, BSN student