Our Final Day in Coban - CureCervicalCancer

Hello, CCC friends and supporters! Caitlin here. Today was our last clinic day here in Guatemala. This week has flown by so quickly, and leaving here is bittersweet. We are so overjoyed to see our trainees work with such dedication and commitment. Over the past five days, they have gone from novice to expert in “See and Treat.” They are confident in their skills, and will no doubt carry on the torch of CCC here in their communities. I had a chance to speak with a number of our trainees before their “graduation” ceremony, and the resounding theme was that they feel grateful. Grateful that CCC brought this program to their country, grateful for the skills they have learned, and grateful that women who would never have had a chance to be screened, will now have that opportunity. Personally, this experience has opened my eyes to a world I have never had a chance to see. A world in which the government doesn’t have the funds to pay for the most basic of health care. Where hospital walls have holes, and windows are covered in Styrofoam. A world where women walk for hours for a chance to be seen by a competent medical professional. And a world where they die, needlessly, often leaving young children behind.

But this week, we took necessary steps to change that. We taught our trainees the skills that can and will save lives. I love looking at the pictures of the women lined up at our clinics. These faces are the faces of women who will NOT die needlessly from cervical cancer. They are beating the odds…odds which have been stacked against them for far too long. Over this past week, CCC and our trainees have screened hundreds of women, and treated dozens. Today our trainees took their written and slideshow tests, and all graduated with high marks. You could see the pride sparkling in their eyes as they posed for photos with their diplomas. And they have every right to be proud. They are saving lives.