Why support WINGS?

Your support of WINGS makes a tremendous difference to Guatemalan families.  Here are a few reasons why.

WINGS addresses an urgent need for family planning and reproductive health services in Guatemala:

  • Guatemala’s national fertility rate, at 4.1, is one of the highest in Latin America, and in the poorest fifth of the population, the average family has 6 children;
  • Only a third of women of reproductive age use a modern method of birth control, while 28% report an unmet need for family planning;
  • A Guatemalan woman is 67 times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth in her liftetime than a woman in the United States;
  • At the current growth rate of 2.5%, the population is expected to double within the next 30 years, placing a strain on public resources and threatening some of the world's most biodiverse and endangered ecological environments;
  • 56% of Guatemalans live below the national poverty line, 10% on less than $1 a day, while approximately half of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

WINGS programs have significant impact in the community. Consider some of our program highlights from 2010:

  • Provided 4,714 permanent methods (4,188 tubal ligations and 526 vasectomies) in addition to 17,735 temporary methods and 2,288 Jadelle implants (a long-term method that protects women for up to 5 years) through our Family Planning Program;
  • Screened more than 3,000 women in rural areas for cervical cancer, providing sameday follow up treatment when needed;
  • Youth WINGS peer educators reached 17,832 young people with sexual and reproductive health information in 2010;
  • 537 counseling sessions were performed by WINGS for Men peer educators in addition to 15,844 behavior change communication materials regarding sexual and reproductive health being distributed.

Your money goes a long way:

  •  $12 provides 1 woman with sameday cervical cancer screening and treatment of precancers.
  •  $40 covers the cost of a voluntary tubal ligation or vasectomy.  
  •  $85 protects 2 women from unplanned pregnancies for up to 5 years through Jadelle (a reversible hormone implant).
  • $100 trains 2 youth peer educators to provide sexual and reproductive health information to adolescents in their community.
  • $250 allows 40 women to use oral contraceptives for 1 year, providing them with freedom to space their children as they wish.
  • $500 empowers a group of 25 women to advocate for their reproductive health rights.

WINGS is committed to sustainability, donor accountability, and financial transparency.  Please see our audited financial figures for 2009 (PDF).  More than 80% of funding goes directly to program services. 

At WINGS we strive to make the most out of our limited resources.  We partner with other nonprofit organizations, government service providers, and international agencies to maximize impact, leverage existing infrastructure, address program gaps, and avoid duplication of services. 

Please support our work by donating online now.

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