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Univera Associates Prepare for Guatemala
LACEY, Wash. (March 17, 2010) - In 2009, Univera Executives launched the “Serve First for 4” incentive in which Univera Associates were encouraged to contribute monthly to Serve First throughout the year. At the end of the year, four active Univera Associates who had been contributing monthly were drawn at random to journey with Serve First partner Vitamin Angels to a part of the world where Serve First donations are being implemented.
In January 2010, it was announced that Platinum Associates Barry Lucas (Ron & Barbara Faunce) and Julie Adamo Cass (Harry Mathers), Gold Associate Martie Pineda (Renee Poindexter), and Silver Associate Michael Corbin (Glen Crawford) would be traveling with Univera Corporate host Meredith Berkich, VP of Sales U.S. , to Guatemala from March 21-27.
The travel party consisting of Univera Serve First and Vitamin Angels personnel will be journeying through sometimes primitive conditions, beginning in Guatemala City and visiting clinics and other organizations in the field at Puerto Golpe and San Agustin. The group is teaming up with Vitamin Angels partner Faith in Practice to assist medical volunteers with helping the local population in these areas.
Faith in Practice is the second largest health care provider in Guatemala, serving over 17,000 beneficiaries per year. Working in Guatemala for 18 years, it has set up medical clinics staffed by local professionals and pharmacists who distribute children’s multivitamins and women’s prenatal/postnatal multivitamins.
The Univera Serve First group will be working with the team to distribute vitamins, anti-parasitics and/or working in the pharmacy to help pack and sort medicines and vitamins. Those who are fluent in Spanish or other native languages could also assist in translating for the patients, helping to conduct mini-health education sessions with patients who are waiting to be seen, or perform other tasks suited to their skill sets.
In a message to Univera Associates, Vitamin Angels President and Founder Howard Schiffer said of the trip: "I can promise you an amazing experience, not from seeing scenic vistas, historic monuments, or ancient ruins, but rather from getting the opportunity to interact with people who you would never get a chance to meet otherwise. Over the years, traveling around the world for Vitamin Angels, my greatest realization is how alike people are all over the world. Our situations are dramatically different, but we all want the children to be healthy and we all want to have some hope for a brighter future for our children."
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2008/2009) reports that of children under 5 in Guatemala, 13.4-18.5% are vitamin A deficient (1995), 38.1% are anemic (2002), 54.3% are stunted, 2% are wasted, and 17.7% are underweight. With poor prenatal care and high rates of malnutrition, Guatemalan women suffer from the 3rd highest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the Western Hemisphere. Despite efforts to provide essential micronutrient supplementation and accessible health services, coverage rates are inconsistent due to decades of armed conflict. This is worsened by one of the lowest rates of government public health expenditures – it is difficult for the population to access regular health services, and limits the quality and effectiveness of public services.
About Serve First™:
Univera Serve First (www.servefirst.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger among the most vulnerable in America, Canada and around the world. Its past efforts include providing nutritional support for schoolchildren in rural Mississippi and young refugees in northern Thailand. The effort is rooted in the humanitarian concerns of Univera founder Bill Lee in working to serve those who live on the margins – the underprivileged and often forgotten members of our communities.
Univera, Inc. (www.univera.com) is the world’s leading cell renewal-focused relationship marketing company offering life-changing nutrition products and unparalleled home-business opportunity for nearly 100,000 people currently in