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 4.2, is the highest in Latin America, and in the poorest fifth of the population, the average family has 8 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:

  • In 2007 WINGS received the prestigious Juan Bautista Gutiérrez Foundation’s Apoyando a Quienes Apoyan (“helping those who help others”) award for non-profit excellence in Guatemala;
  • In 2008, WINGS’ services provided more than 87,000 years worth of protection from unwanted pregnancies for Guatemalan couples;
  • WINGS screens more than 3,000 women in rural areas for cervical cancer each year, providing follow up treatment when needed;
  • Youth WINGS peer educators reached more than 9,000 young people with sexual and reproductive health information in 2008.

Your money goes a long way:

  • $35 covers the cost of a tubal ligation;
  • $45 protects a woman from unwanted pregnancies for up to 5 years using Jadelle, a reversible implant;
  • $100 trains a youth peer educator to provide sexual and reproductive health information to adolescents in the community;
  • $250 purchases a year's supply of birth control pills for 35 women;
  • $500 provides cervical cancer detection and treatment for 30 women.

WINGS is committed to sustainability, donor accountability, and financial transparency.  Please see our audited financial figures for 2008 (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 non-profit 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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