Narda Sherman, secretary of the nonprofit Amigos Hospitalito Atitlán (translation: "friends of the little hospital in Atitlán") attended Montessori preschool and elementary, went on to earn the AMI Montessori diplomas at 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 levels, and worked as administrator for the Montessori school connected with TMI (The Montessori Institute) in Denver, Colorado. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer, and then for the Carter Center, designing and supervising the national program for the eradication of guinea worm in Cote d’Ivoire. She then returned to school for pre-med classes, graduated from the Oregon Health Science University and worked many years in general and burn surgery in Portland. Since 2007 Narda has traveled repeatedly to Guatemala as a clinician in family medicine, translator for medical volunteers, and coordinator. She met her husband, Ulysses, who serves as treasurer of Amigos Hospitalito Atitlán, in the Peace Corps. Ulysses and their two children spend part of each year at Santiago Atitlán.

Any contribution to Amigos may be directed to support either the operational grant or the capital grant awarded to Hospitalito Atitlán. For more information or to help, see the following links.

Hospitalito Atitlán: HOSPITAL

Hospitalito Atitlán: FRIENDS

July, 2009 Newsletter: NEWS

In the spring of 2003 a small group of people in Santiago Atitlán began to work toward reopening the abandoned hospital in Panabaj. Renovation began the following year and in in 2005, after more than a decade, the first 24-hour medical care was available for the Tz’utujil Maya in Santiago Atitlán. Tragically, six months after the opening hundreds of neighbors were buried in an avalanche of mud caused by the rains of tropical storm Stan, and the renovated buildings were useless.

Amigos Hospitalito Atitlán is a U.S. nonprofit corporation which has been formed to provide financial, material and human resources in support of subsidized healthcare services in rural Guatemala.  They seek to support Guatemalan charitable organizations that have strong roots in their local communities with a broad base of donors and volunteers.

Hospitalito Atitlán serves a population of 43,000 Tz'utujil Maya on the southern shore of beautiful Lake Atitlán in the highlands of Guatemala. Local physicians, nursing, and administrative staff work closely in collaboration with volunteer medical personnel from around the world to provide a comprehensive scope of care, including the only 24/7 emergency and surgical obstetrical care within a 2-hour radius.

More than 60 percent of the patients speak only Tz'utujil, the local Mayan dialect. Hospitalito staff translates Tz'tujil to Spanish for medical volunteers. and goes to great lengths to make services affordable to everyone. Social Workers are available to evaluate the resources of the patient and family and provide up to a 100% discount for those with limited resources.